SESSION OF 2019
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2176
As Recommended by House Committee on
Elections

Brief*
HB 2176 would amend law concerning the collection of
ballots by prohibiting persons from collecting voted or
unvoted ballots, or otherwise possessing such ballots, if not
authorized by law.
The bill would further prohibit persons from collecting
advance voted or unvoted ballots from the county election
officer to the voter. Continuing law prohibits intercepting,
interfering with, or delaying the transmission of advance
voting ballots from the county election officer to the voter.
The bill would establish a violation of this provision to be
a level 9, nonperson felony.

Background
The bill was introduced in the House Committee on
Elections at the request of Representative Sutton.
In the House Committee hearing, no testimony was
provided on the bill.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget, the Office of the Secretary of State (Secretary)
indicates enactment of the bill would increase expenditures
for the Secretary by an estimated amount of $10,000 in each
of the next two fiscal years. The expenditures would be to
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
update training and educational materials and to provide
training to local county election officials, law enforcement
officials, and members of the general public. The Secretary
indicates these costs could be managed with existing
resources.
The Kansas Association of Counties reports enactment
of the bill would have no fiscal effect on Kansas counties.
The Kansas Sentencing Commission (Commission)
indicates enactment of the bill could have an effect on prison
admissions, prison bed space, and workload of the
Commission, but these effects could not be determined from
the data. Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the
bill is not reflected in The FY 2020 Governor’s Budget Report.


2- 2172


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 25-1128