Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


April 25, 2023


The Honorable Mike Thompson, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 144-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Thompson:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 262 by Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 262 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 262 would make various changes to current election laws. The bill would set forth
requirements for the use of paper ballots including, requiring all paper ballots to have a serial
number. On or after January 1, 2024, voter ballots would be required to be marked by hand and
only manual hand counting would be permitted for counting of votes. The bill would also prohibit
the purchase, lease, rent, or use of electronic poll books and electromechanical vote tabulating
equipment, including optical scanning equipment on or after January 1, 2024. SB 262 would also
amend how votes cast are reported to the Secretary of State and how the agency would report
unofficial results to the public. In addition, prior to January 1, 2024, electronic or
electromechanical voting system or electronic poll book fraud would be a severity level 9
nonperson felony.
The bill would define “approval of the Legislature” as the Secretary of the State advising
the Legislature of a proposed determination or adoption of a rule or regulation. The determination,
rule, or regulation would not be effective if prior legislative advise is not provided, unless and until
affirmatively approved by the Legislature or Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC). The
Legislature would be authorized to revoke the determination, rule, or regulation at any time by
concurrent resolution or when the legislature is not in session or is adjourned, the determination,
rule, or regulation could be approved or revoked by the LCC. For a period of 30 calendar days
before any election, no rule or regulation could be adopted by the Secretary that would affect the
elections. Rules and regulations regarding voting procedures adopted after July 1, 2024, would
require the approval of the Legislature.
The Honorable Mike Thompson, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 262

Under SB 262, the Secretary of State indicates it would use existing resources to provide
training and update manuals for county election officials; update the agency’s website; update
public documents and information; and work with media, political parties, candidates, and the
public to ensure knowledge of the updated vote counting requirements in the bill. The agency also
estimates the bill could affect county election expenditures if the counties realized savings by not
using voting equipment versus hiring significantly more temporary election employees to count
every ballot by hand in every election. The agency does not have sufficient data to calculate the
fiscal effect on the counties.
The Kansas Sentencing Commission estimates enactment of SB 262 could have an effect
on prison admissions, bed space, and workload of the Commission; however, any fiscal effect
would be negligible. The Kansas Judicial Branch and the Department of Corrections indicate SB
262 would not have a fiscal effect. The Legislature states SB 262 would have negligible fiscal
effect on its budget. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 262 is not reflected in The FY 2024
Governor’s Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates that because SB 262 would prohibit the use
of electronic poll books and electromechanical vote tabulating equipment, including optical
scanning equipment, the counties’ equipment would result in a monetary loss. In addition, the
counties could experience increased labor expenses to count votes by hand. The Association is
unable to estimate the fiscal effect the bill would have on counties.


Sincerely,

Adam Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties
Karen Clowers, Legislative Services
Sandy Tompkins, Office of the Secretary of State


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 25-2912, 25-3001, 25-3006, 25-1338, 25-3107, 25-4402, 25-4403, 25-4404, 25-4405, 25-4407, 25-4408, 25-4411, 25-4414, 25-4415, 25-4610, 25-4613