[Part 4] How voter fraud stopped the Holcomb power plants

In parts 1, 2, and 3 of our series, we discussed how just a few votes in key House and Senate Districts allowed Kansas to become the first government entity in the nation to own and operate destination casinos and how just a few votes in some Senate races in 2004 caused C.A.R.A. to fail on an override attempt. While these issues are important, there are some, I’m sure, that will point out that they are ’social issues’ and therefore only reflect on the ‘weakness’ of the conservative movement. But as we’ll see in Part 4, even moderate Republicans sometimes can’t get their way if votes aren’t cast with a lot of thought and consideration.

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How voter fraud stopped the Holcomb power plants

As we previously discussed, House District 16 in Johnson County was won by just three votes in 2006 by Gene Rardin. At least, that’s the official story you’ll get if you visit the Kansas Secretary of State’s website to view the ‘06 election results.

What you won’t find there is the story of how that three vote difference was determined.

After election night in November of ‘06, Dennis Kriegshauser thought he’d just been elected to the Kansas House of Representatives. But after provisional ballots were tabulated, he appeared to have fallen three votes short of winning. The close victory for Rardin demanded a recount, which was quickly ordered.

The Board of Canvassers was assembled to carry out the recount. The Elections Commissioner of Johnson County, Brian Newby, organized the provisional ballots into piles of 20. (A provisional ballot is a ballot that must be verified before being counted. It could be the voter changed address or name or that they are a new voter and need their identification verified. There are a number of reasons a ballot is considered ‘provisional.’)

Once the count had begun, 20 extra ballots were discovered. They were added to the others without any attempt to verify that they were valid. Once added, a ballot can not be separated from the others. In other words, if any of those ballots were cast illegally, it instantly becomes impossible to know which ballot belongs to which voter and therefore it must be counted even though it was cast illegally.

After adding in the 20 ‘missing’ ballots, the Board further determined there were 14 provisional ballots from House District 16 that needed identification verified to be counted. The JoCo Elections Commissioner told the Board that he had personally verified the ID’s and that all of the ballots were, in fact, valid. Rather than question the authority of the Commissioner and ask to see the ID’s themselves, the Board added those 14 ballots to the others with no further discussion.

Eric Carter, attorney for Mr. Kriegshauser, notified the Board Chairman of the violation of state law. But since the ballots had already been mixed in, even if valid ID’s weren’t valid, there was no way for the Board to now separate the illegal ballots.

In essence, lack of common sense and multiple election law violations ensured that the recount for House Dist. 16 was virtually over before it began.

To further add insult to injury, the Board told Mr. Carter that he was not allowed to address the Board because of an ‘internal policy.’ The one man who knew how the recount should be carried out legally was shut down.

Once finished, the Board certified a three vote difference for Mr. Rardin. But the multiple violations of state law guaranteed a lawsuit.

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‘A fact finding court’

The court’s job was seek out the ‘facts’ for the House Select Committee on Contested Elections. The House Committee, not the Court, would have the final say in who won the election.

The court’s findings focused on five voters and whether or not their votes were cast legally.

With the first vote, the court heard testimony from the voter that she lived at the address listed on her registration card. No other evidence was given. The court accepted this statement. The House Committee in turn also accepted this statement.

The second contested vote involved a registered Republican who claimed to remember voting for Sebelius, Morrison and Moore but not for Mr. Rardin. The court determined the vote could not be thrown out because the recipient of the vote couldn’t be determined. The House Committee determined the vote was cast illegally because the voter didn’t live in the District, but in the end, the vote was included.

The voter who cast the third contested ballot signed an affidavit that she voted for Rardin. Her voter registration card listed a home address in House Dist. 16 but her mailing address was outside of the District. The voter was never called to testify and the court and House Committee found that where the voter lived couldn’t be determined. Therefore, the vote was included.

The fourth voter had been living at an address outside of House District 16, but claimed she lived inside the District on election day. The voter never testified in court. The vote was accepted.

The last vote was not included in the totals by the Board of Canvassers. The elderly voter had switched ballots with her husband accidentally, so the signatures on the envelope and the ballot didn’t match. The mistake was caught by the Elections Office and the husband corrected his ballot, but because the elderly wife was unable to come to the elections office, her vote was determined to be illegally cast and was not included in the vote totals even though the Elections Office was aware of the mix up. This was the same office that determined the validity of 14 provisional ballots in the race illegally.

Ironically, it was the only ballot thrown out according to court and House Committee documents.

Therefore, after accepting a signed affidavit from the fifth voter that she, in fact, voted for Mr. Kriegshauser, the court, and ultimately the House Committee, determined a two vote margin.

In the courts published opinion, it stated many times that even though the Board of Canvassers and the JoCo Elections Commissioner broke state law, that the court should not invalidate the election as long as, “the clear intent and purpose of the electorate” could be determined.

I submit that with a two vote difference, one case of proven voter fraud and 20 ‘found’ ballots, that intent can not, by mathematical definition, be determined.

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Why even one vote matters

As you’ve probably guessed by now, Rep. Rardin played a pivotal role in blocking the Holcomb power plants.

There were several different bills introduced in both the House and Senate that sought to temper the power of KDHE Secretary Bremby. The first, H Sub for SB 327. It was a test bill, so to speak, designed to see where the members were at and to see what concessions might be needed to pass the bill. As the timeline to the right indicates, it was quickly vetoed by Gov. Sebelius. A Senate override vote did occur on April 3rd, but no House override attempt was made.

It’s important to note the timing on these bills. SB 327’s veto was overridden by the Senate on April 3rd. By doing so, the Senate signaled loud and clear that it was ready to override almost any veto of the Governors. The ball now shifted to the House’s court.

Rather than resurrect a bill that only passed by 75 votes in the House, they instead turned to a new bill, SB 148.

SB 148 was the best chance at getting the coal plants built. The timing was right, just coming off a major Senate vote. With just enough votes, the Legislature would be in the drivers seat and calling the shots rather than the other way around. It all came down to this one House vote.

As an April 3rd article from the Newton Kansan shows, the House vote was seen as the key to getting the plants built.

Legislators sensed Thursday that supporters of two coal -fired power plants in southwest Kansas had enough backing to enact a law making sure the plants get built. The Senate voted 32-7 to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto of a bill allowing Sunflower Electric Power Corp. to build the two plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County. Supporters had five votes more than the two-thirds majority necessary.

The next day, the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of SB 148. But the House fell one vote short of an override. And as you’ve already guessed, one of those ‘nea’ votes was cast by none other than Rep. Gene Rardin.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the denial of the Holcomb power plants, that I won’t deny. I would argue, however, that April 4th votes changed the momentum of any coal plant legislation to come. Rather than the House and Senate calling the shots, they were immediately put on defense. It very may well have been the last nail in the coffin of Holcomb.

Voters seem to have developed a disconnect between the candidates they put in office and the legislation those same people pass. Voters are told one vote can make a difference, but they fail to see that that one vote doesn’t just make a difference in who is in office, it makes a difference in what comes out of that office. Would votes for Rardin have been cast differently if they’d known they were voting against thousands of Kansas jobs? Would they have voted differently if they’d known they were giving Tiller a green light? Would they have voted differently if they’d known they were voting for state owned corruption?

Would you have given $10 to Kriegshauser if you’d known it would have gotten him that last vote?

That’s what’s at stake this November. I can’t tell you what issues will come up in the next two or four years. I can’t tell you which voter in which district will be the deciding factor. But I can tell you with utmost certainty, that it’s our responsibility to get to that voter and make sure they understand they aren’t just voting for a person, they’re voting for the future of our state.