Douglas County election canvass finds 26 ballots rejected over citizenship
Topeka ? The Douglas County Board of Canvassers added 1,254 ballots to the finally tally of votes from the Nov. 4 election, but that did not change the outcome of any local races, according to the county clerk’s office.
But the board rejected 410 ballots for various reasons, including 26 from voters whose registrations were incomplete because they had not provided proof of U.S. citizenship.
County commissioners met as the canvassing board Thursday morning to officially record the tallies from polling places and the advance ballots and to sift through the 1,664 provisional ballots that were cast.
Provisional ballots are those that were cast in the election but were set aside and not counted on Election Day, often because the voter went to the wrong polling place or did not show up on the voter registration list.
Of the 410 ballots rejected, 149 were from voters who were registered in another county, and 119 were from voters who were not registered at all in Douglas County.
In addition to the 26 rejected because of the proof-of-citizenship requirement, another 13 were rejected because they did not provide a photo ID at the polls.
Both the photo ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements are part of the Secure and Fair Elections Act passed by the Kansas Legislature in 2011 at the request of then newly-elected Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Results of the county canvass are forwarded to the Secretary of State’s office, along with results from the other 104 counties, where the state Board of Canvassers will meet Nov. 26 to officially certify the results of the election.