After more than 200 mail-in ballots from Douglas County voters were not counted in the August primary, local election officials are working to ensure similar problems don’t arise in November.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said the elections office received more than 200 ballots after the election deadline, despite being postmarked in July, because of delays with the postal service. 

The issue was not with local postal workers. Shew said ballots were held and scanned in the Kansas City post office repeatedly. 

Approximately 1,000 August primary ballots across the state were not counted due to postal delays and processing issues, according to a letter from Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab to the U.S. postmaster general last week. 

Lawrence resident Jamie Miller said she mailed her ballot for the August primary weeks before election day. She assumed that would be plenty of time, but it wasn’t. Her ballot was held at the post office in Kansas City until after the deadline. 

“My initial reaction was anger,” Miller said. “My right to vote is my most treasured right as a citizen of the United States of America.”

Mark Inglett, a spokesperson for the postal service in Kansas and Missouri, said the department has been in close communication with Schwab and other Kansas officials to resolve concerns and review policy on postmarks.

“The postal service is committed to the timely and secure delivery of election mail,” Inglett said. “We provide election officials with a secure, efficient and effective means to enable citizens to participate in elections.”

Voting by mail is the most accessible option for many voters, and necessary for some who are out of town or are unable to leave their home. Shew said those who vote by mail should apply for their ballot and mail it as soon as possible. 

Douglas County has ways for voters to track their ballot and sign up for notifications to ensure it is delivered and counted. Voters whose ballots are delayed can fill out provisional ballots in case their mail-in ballot is not received in time. 

‘My vote is my only voice’

Election officials recommend voters mail ballots well before election day, but that time frame wasn’t enough for many voters in August, including Miller. 

“My vote is my only voice, you know, and it absolutely cannot be silenced by the actions or inactions of federal employees,” Miller said. “That is election interference.”

Micah Kubic, executive director of ACLU Kansas, said it was frustrating that hundreds of eligible voters’ ballots were not counted for reasons out of their control.

In Kansas, mail-in ballots have three days to arrive at the elections office after polls close. Ballots must be postmarked before polls close. If they are received after that grace period, voters have no recourse for their uncounted ballot, even if they were postmarked weeks before. 

“The bottom line, though, is that if folks do the right things, they do everything right, their ballot should absolutely be counted,” Kubic said. 

The Kansas Legislature attempted in recent years to remove the grace period. But Kubic said the 200 uncounted August ballots show the need to protect, and even increase, the grace period. 

“What we really should be doing is making that structure and system work better for people, rather than worse,” he said. “And doing that would be giving folks more than three days for the ballots to come back.”

After receiving the late ballots, Shew said the elections office contacted both the federal and Kansas City post office, but has yet to hear why hundreds of ballots were delayed. 

‘People who depend on mail-in ballots’

Voting by mail is the most accessible option for Miller. But she said after having her vote not counted in the primary, she won’t vote by mail again in November.

“I will be voting in person,” she said. “Despite the extra challenges that it adds for me, you know, I won’t give somebody else the opportunity — I will never again give somebody else the opportunity to say my vote doesn’t count.” 

For many people, voting by mail removes obstacles that can otherwise prevent them from voting. Jobs, family, health and other life obligations can all get in the way of people being able to make it to a polling place on election day. Kubic said making it harder to vote by mail or removing that option altogether is “totally disconnected from the real world.” 

“There are lots of people who depend on mail-in ballots, who depend on advanced ballots to be able to participate at all,” he said. “Our goal should always be to make it so that more eligible people participate, rather than less.”

That need for alternative voting options makes August’s uncounted ballots even more concerning to him, and has him worried about the Nov. 5 general election. 

“My recommendation is always to do the thing that makes the most sense for you as an individual,” Kubic said. “Thankfully, we have multiple opportunities, multiple ways of voting in Kansas.”

Shew agreed that voters should vote however is best for them, but encouraged them to send in their mail ballots as soon as possible. 

“I want people to know, if that’s the option you choose, we will be tracking it,” Shew said. “I honestly think the post office is going to be very diligent, based on what happened in August.” 

‘Make sure this doesn’t happen in November’

Miller believes the story reflects broader challenges to the election system, where she said voting rights have come under attack politically in the last five years. She is concerned about how changes to the postal system have made it less reliable for those voting with mail-in ballots. 

In Schwab’s letter, he requested explanations and assurances about the post office’s handling of mail-in ballots. A copy of the letter was also sent to members of Kansas’ congressional delegation. 

“Proper and timely handling of mail ballots is a key aspect to maintaining trust in our election system,” Schwab said.

Miller said she was concerned she wasn’t notified that her ballot arrived too late until checking on it herself.

With the Nov. 5 election expected to drive high turnout, Miller said she is worried issues like what she experienced in August could get even worse in the more contentious environment of a general presidential election. 

Kubic agreed and stressed that what happened in August was not a fluke, but rather a trend of growing challenges to voting rights across the country.

“I think we’re absolutely worried about making sure that every vote cast by an eligible voter is counted,” he said. “If we think that there were 200 ballots in a low-turnout primary, in one county, in one part of Kansas, imagine what could happen in November.” 

Voters can call ACLU Kansas’ election hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE for real-time help if they have concerns about their ballot. 

Douglas County is the only county in Kansas that tracks mail ballots, Shew said. The elections office will be tracking ballots’ post office scans more closely in November, and Shew encourages voters to do the same. 

“The big thing for us right now is how we make sure this doesn’t happen in November,” Shew said. “And that’s the larger conversation we’ve been having with Kansas City and at the federal level.”

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election is Tuesday, Oct. 15. Douglas County voters can get registered and request an advance ballot quickly online at KSVotes.org.

Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.

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