KS certifies ‘historic’ primary results as top election official slams conspiracy theories

The Aug. 2 election in Kansas was the highest-turnout primary election in state history, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s Office said Thursday as top officials met to formally certify the results, including the defeat of an amendment to remove abortion rights from the state constitution.

The unprecedented turnout in the Aug. 2 primary election was driven by extraordinary voter interest in the amendment, called Value Them Both by supporters, which would have overturned a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision that found the state constitution protects abortion access.

The Kansas State Board of Canvassers voted unanimously to certify the results of the amendment vote and every other state-level and congressional race at the end of a brief meeting in Topeka. In addition to Schwab, the board includes Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who will face each other in the Nov. 8 general election for governor.

Kelly and Schmidt shook hands, but otherwise didn’t speak to each other during the meeting as they sat on opposite ends of a table, with Schwab, who chaired the meeting, in the middle.

A total of 939,371 people cast a ballot, Bryan Caskey, the Kansas director of elections, told the board. Caskey, calling the election “historic,” said the previous high point for total ballots cast in a primary election was 532,000 in 1996. Roughly 48% of registered voters cast a ballot in August, compared to 39% in 1996, the previous high in the past 30 years.

The amendment suffered a landslide defeat of 59.16% to 40.84% in the final, official vote count. But that didn’t stop diehard anti-abortion activists and election deniers from advancing baseless allegations of fraud.

Mark Gietzen, a longtime anti-abortion activist in Wichita, ultimately used a credit card to pay nearly $120,000 to recount the amendment vote in nine counties, including Johnson and Sedgwick, the two largest. The recount reaffirmed the results, altering them by fewer than 70 votes.

Caskey said the election was the most scrutinized in Kansas history, given the recounts. Schwab also shared what he said a friend had texted him: “The people willing to believe conspiracy theories about people trying to control them are then more than willing to be controlled by the people pushing the conspiracy theory.”

Asked about Gietzen after the meeting, Schwab appeared to expressed sympathy for him.

“A man put it on his credit card. He was so deceived, he put $118,000 of unsecured debt that he has to pay. My heart feels bad for a person that was manipulated into doing that,” Schwab said. “But you know, you got to pay for the results of your decisions.”

Gietzen is waiting for a hearing date to be scheduled in a lawsuit he filed last week against Schwab demanding a hand recount of every race in the Aug. 2 primary election, including a second recount of Sedgwick County’s abortion rights vote and a “revote” in counties that use electronic voting machines to mark ballots. His lawsuit has virtually no chance of succeeding.

Gietzen has said he plans to canvass neighborhoods to check if voters live where they say they do. He also recently announced he’s trying to partner with CrimeStoppers of Wichita and Sedgwick County to set up a voter fraud tip line and offer cash rewards “to uncover any of the existing, various, fraudulent voting schemes and practices that were employed during the Aug. 2 election.”

Wichita police officer and CrimeStoppers spokesperson Trevor Macy said the organization has no partnership with Gietzen or any of his organizations.

The Wichita Eagle’s Chance Swaim contributed reporting