GOP primary is an eye-opener. Time to get election officials under county control

There have been bills in the Kansas Legislature before that tried to return the job of election commissioner in the state’s four largest counties back to those counties and out of the hands of the secretary of state.

Those bills died for various reasons, none strong enough to gain the support of a majority of lawmakers.

But boy, Kansas sure has a good reason now.

One of the many intriguing parts of the week-old pursuit of determining a Republican nominee for governor has been the role of Johnson County election commissioner Ronnie Metsker and his office’s election-night performance.

It wasn’t good — painfully slow reporting of returns after technical glitches with new election software — and his job status is why lawmakers should look for a bipartisan solution in the 2019 legislative session to change Kansas election law.

As it stands, Kansas law says any county with more than 130,000 residents — currently Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte — will have an election commissioner appointed by the secretary of state.

Commissioners in those counties don’t have a say in who gets the job. Nor do they have a say, incredibly, in the election commissioner’s budget that’s paid out of county money — not state money.

So you see why attempts have been made to change the law, which is in place because election commissioners have one job instead of county clerks in the other 101 counties, who conduct elections along with other duties.

Problems on election night — see Sedgwick County’s Tabitha Lehman in 2012 — have been just one reason to hold election commissioners more accountable. Just last year, Shawnee County election commissioner Andrew Howell exceeded his 2017 budget by $184,000, but wasn’t accountable to that county’s taxpayers — only to Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who did nothing.

But now comes the best reason. Metsker, up in Johnson County, was hired by Kobach in 2016. His contract ends on Aug. 31. Kobach and his office will decide whether Metsker will retain his job or leave the Johnson County election commissioner’s office. Possibly while a recount or other challenges to vote totals between Kobach and Gov. Jeff Colyer are made.

Election commissioners shouldn’t be beholden to any one person, especially when that person is running for governor. That Kobach could hold Metsker’s future in his hands while a recount is underway is plain dumb luck — but dumb luck that can easily be avoided in the future.

County commissioners would hold election commissioners more accountable because it is their constituents who have been failed when a county’s elections are disrupted by slow returns or problems at polling places.

There are many quirks from this month’s GOP primary that could cause lawmakers to take second looks at Kansas laws regarding elections and how they’re conducted. One of the easiest fixes comes with returning election commissioner roles in four counties, including Sedgwick, back to the county commissions.