Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater sent the district attorney a mailer from Wichita Forward to determine if the nonprofit group behind a proposed sales tax violated state election laws.
The mailer, which Rainwater said was sent to thousands of Wichita voters, listed the wrong ballot deadline and polling hours.
“We've had people call, I've had an email,” Rainwater said. “I'm not going to sweep it under the rug. I have to do due diligence and just turn it over to the DA and the DA can decide what he wants to do with it.”
Wichita Forward was organized by a group of local business leaders in the fall to push the Wichita City Council to hold a special election on a 1% citywide sales tax. In December, council members agreed to the group’s petition and approved a March 3 special election on a proposed tax.
Since then the group — led by CEOs Aaron Bastian of Fidelity Bank, Ben Hutton of Hutton Corp. (formerly Hutton Construction) and Jon Rolph of Thrive Restaurant Group — has waged a public information campaign it’s calling “Watch Wichita Win.”
The group held two public information sessions and has spoken before several organizations in private sessions over the past two months. The majority of Wichita’s Forward messaging to the public has come through its two websites, mailers and a handful of commercials — including one which linked opposition to the sales tax proposal with the Kansas Communist Party.
The most recent mailers hit mailboxes on Friday. Along with talking points in support of the tax, the mailer included an application for an advance mail ballot and “instructions” for mail ballots and in-person voting.
Since 1995, state law has allowed every Kansas voter to vote by way of an advance ballot. For the upcoming special election, voters have through February 24 to submit an application for an advance ballot by mail, fax or email to the Sedgwick County Election Office.
The office then mails the ballot back to the voter, who has three options to cast their vote. Advance voters can either mail the ballot back to the election office, drop it in one of the county’s 14 secure drop boxes or return the ballot in its completed envelope to any Election Day polling place.
In order to be counted, the advance ballots have to be received by the county election office or submitted at a polling place by 7 p.m. on election day.
The Wichita Forward mailer section on advance mail ballot instructions gave a week-shortened deadline for advance ballots, stating, “Don’t forget your ballot must be at the election office by February 24th.”
The in-person voting section also gave voters the wrong information. It said polls open an hour earlier than the true 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule.
Rainwater said one of her staff received the mailer on Friday evening and sent her a screenshot of the errors.
“They should have had us proof it to begin with,” Rainwater said. “We knew nothing. We didn’t even know they were sending it out.”
Rainwater sent out a press statement on Saturday with the correct advance ballot deadline and polling hours. It included a warning to voters that “incorrect dates and times could prevent eligible voters from successfully casting a ballot. “
The commissioner said she received a phone call from someone associated with the Wichita Forward campaign while she was working with the county communications team on the release. The person didn’t leave a message and has not followed up with the office, she said.
Wichita Forward issued a statement over the weekend saying it is “committed to helping voters understand their options and participate fully” in the special election.
The statement called the polling hours a “minor error” and said that “while the mistake would not prevent a voter from casting a ballot, accuracy matters, and we apologize for the oversight.”
On the advance mail deadline, Wichita Forward said it had “incorrectly stated” the deadline for applications to be received, adding that “our intent was to encourage voters to apply early and return ballots promptly to account for mail delivery times.”
The group said it “takes seriously its role in sharing information that supports voter participation” before directing residents to rely on official election sources like the Sedgwick County Election Office for election day details.
KMUW reached out to Wichita Forward for comment on the mailers and was told the nonprofit would not respond beyond its statement.
Rainwater said her office has received requests from residents by phone, mail and social media to cancel the election and investigate the campaign.
A Kansas law on voter intimidation makes it a felony to mail, publish, broadcast or transmit “false information to keep one or more voters from casting a ballot or applying for or returning an advance voting ballot.”
But investigating whether that law has been violated is the job of a district attorney, not an election commissioner.
“People are saying, ‘Oh, they did it intentionally,’” Rainwater said. “That's hard to prove. I don't know that they did it intentionally or not. I'm not taking one side or the other. I just want a fair election, and people need to have accurate information regarding this election.”
