Conspiracy-packed election hearings neglect perspectives from actual voters

In late September, the Kansas Legislature’s Special Elections Committee gathered to study election topics such as voting machine integrity, mail ballots, drop boxes and more. The special committee was presented as an educational opportunity for legislators but instead was such an outlandish spectacle that national media dubbed it a “bogus committee on elections.”

The committee explicitly invited only two groups, the Foundation for Government Accountability and the Liberty Lions League, to present. Both believe in debunked election conspiracies that are not based in reality and lobby to make voting less accessible here in Kansas.

The conspiracies spewed at the Statehouse ranged from ballot box stuffing to a fanciful conspiracy involving the organization where I work, Loud Light. Although Loud Light and other Kansas-based groups, such as the League of Women Voters, attended the hearing, there was no chance for us to refute the bizarre allegations because only those invited by Sen. Mike Thompson, the Republican chairman from Shawnee, were allowed to speak. Instead of allowing Kansans the chance to talk about their own state’s elections, the committee chairman cherrypicked information and testimony he wanted legislators to hear, neglecting the constituents that sent them to Topeka in the first place.

Leading up to the hearings, it became apparent that Thompson seemed to know little about the “experts” he had given this exclusive platform to. Most of the testimony was organized by the Liberty Lions League, led by Greg Shuey, who is public about his belief in the 2020 election conspiracy “ItalyGate,” which alleges that Italy and the Vatican breached U.S. voting machines.

Originally, Shuey was going to bring in QAnon podcaster Tore Maras to testify to the committee. Maras helped promote 2020 election interference conspiracies and identified as an expert when providing an affidavit that claimed to contain evidence of 2020 election interference. This affidavit was then used by former President Donald Trump’s legal team when asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election. Maras is also involved in a North Dakota lawsuit in which she faces several consumer fraud charges. After hearing of Mara’s history and facing pressure from his colleagues, Thompson requested that Shuey remove Maras from testifying just days before the hearings.

Notably, this incident did not lead the chairman to examine the other presenters he invited, many of whom have similar beliefs, nor did the chairman take this moment to change course and give the people of Kansas the opportunity to provide testimony.

Thompson’s “experts” knew very little about Kansas elections procedures compared with other groups and election administrators who have worked Kansas elections, many of whom attended the hearings. The testimony that sparked national attention involved a variety of theories from unreliable sources. One presenter brought by the Liberty Lions League is actively involved in an investigation into the breach of voting machines in a Colorado county that resulted in illegal copies of voting records being made. That same person was invited to testify on voter machine integrity to our lawmakers.

Another witness brought in claimed that China operated Johnson County elections and that Kansas election machines were connected to the internet and therefore flipping votes, despite the secretary of state making clear that no Kansas election machine is connected to the internet. When it came to explaining aspects of the Kansas election process he was scrutinizing, that same presenter stated “I don’t understand how this works.”

It was obvious that the witnesses invited by Thompson had little legitimate information about Kansas elections. Meanwhile, other groups and election administrators that have worked Kansas elections and are familiar with the different processes sat in the audience unable to speak.

Most of the testimony presented revolved around broad and misguided assumptions about how Kansas elections work. Almost every witness spoke under the impression that Kansas had one uniform election process, but in reality we have 105 counties, each with its own election processes. These are the types of witnesses that the chairman uplifted as experts providing facts to both Kansans and his fellow legislators.

What is spoken in the Statehouse affects our state, regardless of whether people acknowledge that or not. The conspiracies that Thompson platforms as fact are the same that motivated Will Pope, a Topeka man, to attempt an insurrection against our country.

If the Legislature wants to address voter confidence and elections, lawmakers should hear from election administrators, true experts and the people of Kansas. Even those prone to election conspiracies have a right to tell legislators what they think, but Thompson’s decision to turn the committee into an invite-only stage presenting widely debunked conspiracies as fact does not inspire confidence, but rather weakens it.

Paris Raite is a young Kansan and the communications coordinator at Loud Light, a Kansas-based advocacy organization focused on voting rights, government transparency and increasing civic engagement. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

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