SESSION OF 2025
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2021
As Recommended by House Committee on
Elections
Brief*
HB 2021 would require the Office of the Secretary of
State, after consulting with county election officers, to adopt
rules and regulations by January 1, 2026, for the use of
remote ballot boxes by county election officers for the return
of advance voting ballots.
The bill would require the rules and regulations to
include:
●The dates, times, and locations for the use of
remote ballot boxes; and
●Any other requirements the Secretary of State
(Secretary) deems necessary to preserve the
integrity of the ballots, the remote ballot boxes, and
the election process.
The bill would define “remote ballot boxes” to mean any
form of locked ballot boxes designated by the county election
officer as available for the use of depositing advance voting
ballots. The definition would not include any ballot boxes
located in a county election office or satellite advance voting
site.
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*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
https://klrd.gov/ Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Elections at the request of Representative Waggoner.
House Committee on Elections
In the House Committee hearing on the bill, proponent
testimony was provided by a representative of the Secretary.
The representative stated the bill would permit the Secretary
to issue rules and regulations on the use of remote ballot
boxes, ensure all counties have standard practices and
security measures, and assure voters their ballots are
received by the election office.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of the Kansas Association of Counties and
Kansas County Clerk and Election Officer Association.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the ACLU of Kansas and 14 private citizens.
No other testimony was provided.
Fiscal Information
A fiscal note was not available when the House
Committee took action on the bill.
Elections; Secretary of State; rules and regulations; county election officers; advance
voting ballots; remote ballot boxes
2- 2021