Kansas City Election Board fixes ballot error affecting nearly 1,700 voters

KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. He received a call from a voter Monday alerting him to this issue. Share your story idea with Charlie.

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A Kansas City Election Board director is taking responsibility for a ballot error that affected roughly 1,700 absentee and mail-in voters ahead of the upcoming election.

KCEB Republican Director Shawn Kieffer said a voter alerted him to the mistake over the weekend. Each ballot should have included all three at-large Jackson County Legislature races, but initial ballots only listed one.

"It was definitely a punch in the gut," Kieffer said. "We thought this thing was put to bed and we're just getting ready for Election Day."

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Kieffer said the error affected 251 in-person absentee voters and about 1,400 mail-in voters. He took direct responsibility for the oversight.

"I should have caught that, and I take full responsibility of it. It was my error," Kieffer said.

This does not affect people who vote under the jurisdiction of the Jackson County Election Board.

KCEB is reaching out to affected voters with options to ensure they can vote in all three races. Kieffer encourages most affected voters to fill out a new supplemental ballot for the two races not included on the original ballot.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Jalen Anderson, who is running for an at-large seat against Justice Horn and Carla Fields, said he was caught off guard by the news.

"I'll say I was shocked," Anderson said. "We need to protect elections and make sure everybody's vote counts."

Fields said she felt disappointed.

"The recent early voting ballot error is disappointing because no voter should ever have to wonder whether they were given the opportunity to participate fully in our democracy," Fields said. "I appreciate that the Kansas City Election Board has acknowledged the mistake and is working to contact affected voters so they can complete supplemental ballots."

Horn also shared a statement on the error.

"Every voter deserves a complete ballot," Horn said. "An election cannot truly reflect the will of the people when voters are casting incomplete ballots because of an avoidable administrative failure."

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Denise Lieberman, who monitors elections for the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, said speed is critical in situations like this.

"Time is of the essence in these things, and the quicker we can stop a problem, the less it's likely to become a really big problem," Lieberman said.

Lieberman said she trusts Kieffer's assurance that the election board has corrected all affected ballots. No-excuse absentee voting began Tuesday. Election Day is Aug. 4.

"I think they see all the effort we're putting forth just to get the thing right. That, in and of itself, should show we're always trying to do the right thing down here," Kieffer said.

The error primarily affects Democratic ballots. Republican candidates in the at-large races are uncontested and will automatically advance to the November election.

Incumbent Donna Peyton faces Brandon Ellington in the 2nd District at-Large Democratic seat. Susan Wilson is running uncontested in the 3rd District at-Large as a Democrat.

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