By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

At Tuesday’s work session, Hays city commissioners agreed to move forward with a resolution opposing a bill in the Kansas Senate that would move local elections to the fall on even-numbered years and make them partisan.

Last week, the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee held hearings on Senate Bill 171.

The draft of the resolution states “the city feels that said legislation would interfere with local elections and would create the likelihood that local issues would be lost or ignored … during the course of large-scale federal and state partisan elections.”

The bill was introduced by the Committee on Ethics and Elections in early February following a push by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Ever since, several school boards and other municipalities have passed similar resolutions.

Supporters of the bill say moving the elections will increase voter turnout while opponents say it will limit the amount of candidates and increase the ballot length. Another piece of legislation, HB 2108, would allow voters to vote a straight-ticket — it is also backed by Kobach.

A draft of the resolution can be found HERE.