Kansas officials certify November election with record-setting turnout

by Allison Kite, Kansas Reflector
December 2, 2024

TOPEKA — More Kansans voted in last month’s general election than in any in the state’s history, officials announced Monday.

The Kansas State Board of Canvassers met to certify the results of last month’s vote for U.S. president and a host of federal, state and local offices. President-elect Donald Trump won handily in Kansas over Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kansas elections director Bryan Caskey said the vote broke three records.

For the first time, more than 1.34 million Kansans voted, Caskey said. More than 2 million were registered for the election. And more people voted in person ahead of Election Day than ever before.

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, thanked election workers and volunteers, noting that unfounded accusations of voter fraud have made their jobs difficult.

“It’s been hard for election workers the past several years,” Schwab said, “but they stand up every election cycle and do their work and they don’t complain.”

Trump won Kansas and its six Electoral College votes by 16 percentage points, widening his victory slightly compared to 2020. In 2020 when President Joe Biden won the election, conservatives claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud helped lift him into office.

Caskey, who serves under Schwab, said he wasn’t aware of any allegations of fraud by any candidates in Kansas this year. 

Schwab said he gets frustrated by claims of voter fraud and noted the vast majority of Kansans do not complain about elections. 

“It’s a small group of people,” he said, “but when their person wins, then they don’t complain. When their person loses, they complain.” 

Asked if he thought election workers could put allegations of fraud behind them, he said he lets the work of election officials speak for itself.

“Are there going to be people who say the world is flat?” Schwab said. “Are there going to be people (who) say we’ve never been to the moon?”

Schwab said his office was reviewing the election to see if the state needs any legislative fixes to help the vote run smoothly. The office may pursue bills when the Kansas Legislature returns in January “to make sure we continue to have secure elections,” he said, but he declined to say what sort of proposals he was considering, noting they are still under review.

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