Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates in contested races address leading up to the Aug. 4 primary election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a five-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to residents across Johnson County.
Each day this week, we’ll publish the candidates’ responses to one question. So far, we’ve published responses on the candidates’ top three priorities.
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
This is a partisan race for a job that must be run fairly for all. How would you assure voters of both parties of your impartiality, including, if the August judicial selection amendment passes, administering new statewide judicial elections cleanly?
For Secretary of State, there is a primary just for Democratic voters. Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on the issue:
Samuel Lane
I mentioned yesterday that I intend to take both sides seriously, the Left with concerns of voter suppression and the Right with allegations of mass voter fraud. We tend to lose truth when our beliefs start to become based on party loyalty tests, rather than based on evidence. Our democracy is far too important to trust to biased judgement calls on what’s “worthy” of investigating.
I’ll keep the public updated on my voter fraud investigations, and I have no intention of letting new voter suppression schemes go unchallenged. I’ve been registered Independent (“unaffiliated”) most of my life, I’m running as a Democrat now so as not to split the vote, but my real affiliation is America, plan and simple.
Any election official, and most especially the Secretary of State, has the responsibility to fairly conduct elections and report their results, no matter how that person feels about it. I feel that responsibility especially keenly, running as a Democrat in a red state. Anyone not willing to fulfil that duty has no business running for this office.
Jennifer Day
When I’m out talking with voters about my campaign and my plans for office once I’m elected, I repeatedly say that I see this as a non-partisan role in our executive government. The person elected to this position shouldn’t be looking to put a thumb on the scale, but instead should provide great customer service to our state’s voters and business owners. As I’ve worked each election for the past 8 years, I’ve never been concerned about the political affiliation of the voters coming through my polling location. I’m just happy that they’re there to vote. That they see it as meaningful for them to take the time out of their day to come in and have their voice heard and counted.
Should the judicial selection amendment pass, we will elect our state Supreme Court judges the same way we elect our municipal, state, and federal officials, and that is to have them included on our ballots for the voters to select for their desired office. Kansas elections are accurate, safe, and accessible, and will continue to be administered accordingly in the future when I am elected secretary of state.
Coming up:
Tomorrow we will publish the candidates’ responses to the following question:
Readers asked how candidates would “ensure mail-in voting remains an easy option for all voters” and protect ballot access. This comes as many of our readers have voiced concerns over Johnson County’s plan to cut back the number of early voting sites this year. A new state law also eliminates the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots, meaning they must arrive by Election Day to be counted. As the state’s chief election officer, what, if anything, would you do on advance and mail-in voting, registration and voter ID to keep voting accessible and secure?
