February 23, 2021 MINUTES of the HOUSE

Approved: February 23, 2021 MINUTES OF THE HOUSE ELECTIONS COMMITTEE The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Blake Carpenter at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, in room 218-N of the Capitol. All members were present except: Representative Cindy Neighbor – Excused Committee staff present: Dana Rooney, Committee Assistant Elaina Rudder, Legislative Research Department Jessa Farmer, Legislative Research Department Mike Heim, Office of Revisor of Statutes Conferees appearing before the Committee: Representative Charlotte Esau, 14th District, Kansas House of Representatives Mike Burgess, Director of Policy & Outlook, Disability Rights Center of Kansas Rick Piepho, Master Certified County Clerk & Election Officer, Harvey County Clerk's Office Davis Hammet, Loud Light Civic Action Kendall Seal, Director of Advocacy, American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas Katie Koupal, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Communications & Policy Others in attendance: No list available Hearing on: HB2339 — Expanding the crime of election tampering to include changing or altering votes cast, manipulating computer hardware or software or vote tabulation methods or producing false vote totals. Chairperson Blake Carpenter opened the hearing on HB2339 and acknowledged Mike Heim, Office of Revisor of Statutes. Revisor Heim gave an overview of the bill and answered questions from Committee members. Chairperson Carpenter introduced Representative John Toplikar, Elections Committee member, who presented proponent testimony on this bill. (Attachment 1) Representative Toplikar stood for questions. Chairperson Carpenter thanked Representative Toplikar for his presentation. Teresa Briggs and Cille King, Co-Presidents, League of Women Voters of Kansas provided written- only opponent testimony. (Attachment 2) Written-only neutral testimony was received from Davis Hammet, Loud Light Civic Action. (Attachment 3) Chairperson Carpenter closed the hearing on HB2339. Unless specifically noted, the individual remarks recorded herein have not been transcribed verbatim. Individual remarks as reported herein have not been submitted to the individuals appearing before the committee for editing or corrections. Page 1 CONTINUATION SHEET MINUTES of the Committee on Elections at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, in room 218-N of the Capitol. Hearing on: HB2319 — Shortening the deadline for the return of advance voting ballots to 5:00 p.m. the day after the election and providing the deadline cannot be altered by an elected or appointed official or a court. Chairperson Carpenter opened the hearing on HB2319. Revisor Heim gave an overview of the bill and answered questions from the Committee members. Representative Charlotte Esau, 14th District, Kansas House of Representatives, appeared before the Committee as a proponent for HB2319. (Attachment 4) Representative Esau stood for questions. Chairperson Carpenter thanked Representative Esau for her presentation. Speaking as opponents on this bill were: • Mike Burgess, Director of Policy and Outreach, Disability Rights Center of Kansas (Attachment 5) • Michael Poppa, Executive Director of Mainstream Coalition (Attachment 6) • Davis Hammet, Loud Light Civic Action (Attachment 7) • Kendall Seal, Director of Advocacy, American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas (Attachment 8) • Rick Piepho, Chair, Kansas County Clerks and Elections Officials (Attachment 9) Written-only opponents were: • Teresa Briggs and Cille King, Co-Presidents, League of Women Voters of Kansas (Attachment 10) • Rabbi Moti Rieber, Executive Director, Kansas Interfaith Action (Attachment 11) • Ann Mah, Former State Representative, District 53 (Attachment 12) One piece of written-only neutral testimony was received from: • Katie Koupal, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Communications & Policy (Attachment 13) There was no other testimony. Committee members asked questions of the conferees. Assisting with answers to questions was Bryan Caskey, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Elections Director. Chairperson Carpenter thanked all of the conferees for their information. The Committee requested numbers on advance by mail ballots which were sent from Ms. Koupal to the Committee Assistant and forwarded to Committee members. (Attachment 14) Unless specifically noted, the individual remarks recorded herein have not been transcribed verbatim. Individual remarks as reported herein have not been submitted to the individuals appearing before the committee for editing or corrections. Page 2 CONTINUATION SHEET MINUTES of the Committee on Elections at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, in room 218-N of the Capitol. Chairperson Carpenter closed the hearing on HB2319. Final action on: HB2051 — Providing for the filling of a vacancy in the offices of state treasurer and the insurance commissioner by statewide district convention. Chairperson Carpenter noted that Representative Elizabeth Bishop was not in the Statehouse today and according to Committee rules, would not be allowed to vote. Chairperson Carpenter opened deliberations on HB2051 with a review of the bill given by Revisor Heim. Representative Bergquist moved, seconded by Representative Toplikar, to pass out HB2051 as amended at the February 11, 2021 meeting. Representative Brett Parker moved, seconded by Representative Vic Miller, to amend HB2051 . (Attachment 15) Motion failed . Representative Bergquist closed on his motion. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 5:08 p.m. The next scheduled meeting of the House Elections Committee is February 18, 2021. Unless specifically noted, the individual remarks recorded herein have not been transcribed verbatim. Individual remarks as reported herein have not been submitted to the individuals appearing before the committee for editing or corrections. Page 3.

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