Kansas GOP Insider (wannabe): Things the Media Ignores, Part 9,221

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Things the Media Ignores, Part 9,221

The Douglas County Republican Party sent a press release to local media the other day, asking them to investigate discrepancies with advanced voting applications mailed to Douglas County voters. 

The press release noted that on Sept. 12, the Douglas County Clerk, Jamie Shew, mailed advance voter applications--but not to all voters. According to the Douglas County Republican Party, more Democrat voters than Republican voters received the applications to advance vote. 

"When you compare the list of households that received the mailer to registered voters in Douglas County, there is a slight, but clear discrepancy between the Republican and Democrat households that received the application in question." 

The DCRP made a Kansas Open Records Request to obtain the list of voters who received the application mailer and cross-checked the list with voters. Democrats received these applications at a higher rate than Republicans.

DCRP research revealed that Democrats were over-represented in receiving the application by about 1.7 percent. There are three senate districts in Douglas County -- 2, 3, and 19--but state Senate District 2 was over-represented by 4 percent versus district registration percentages in the raw voter file. 

The DCRP raises some important questions:

Why weren't all Douglas County voters sent the application?

Who decided which voters received the applications and which ones didn't? 

It will be interesting to see if any of the local media attempt to write about this critical issue. The DCRP sent information to 
the Lawrence Journal World, the Tonganoxie Mirror, The Topeka Capital Journal, Hawver's Report, KAKE, Kansas First News, the Kansas City Star and the Associated Press, WIBW, and the Wichita Eagle.

Elections are often decided by fewer than 100 votes. If the Douglas County Clerk was attempting to influence an election, voters have the right to know.


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