Josh Waddell will soon be an official member of the school board in Hays. Monday night the USD 489 board voted to accept the results of the County election officer.
The USD 489 special session opened on Monday night with a report from Board Attorney Bill Jeter: The Kansas Legislature is empowered to prescribe the classifications for holding public office. According to KSA 25-2020, “Any person who is an elector may become a candidate for board membership. Qualification of electors are set forth in section 1 of article 5 of the Kansas Constitution. It says that every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 18 years and resides in the voting area in which he or she seeks to vote shall be deemed a qualified elector.
The law further provides that although the Kansas Constitution provides the qualifications of the right to vote, the requirement of registration does not prescribe an additional qualification upon the right to vote. An application for registration must be made on a form approved by the Secretary of State and signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury.”
Jeter further explained, “Josh Waddell was not registered to vote at the time he submitted his declaration to become a candidate for office nor was he registered at the time of the election. He has since become a registered voter and otherwise during the election process met the qualifications of electors as set forth in the Kansas Constitution.
In order to contest an election, any registered voter who has a right to vote in the school district election can protest the election by filing a notice of protest within 5 days after certificate of election is issued with the clerk of the Ellis County District Court.
No protests were filed.
The specific issue then becomes, does an elector as referenced in KSA 25-2020 require the candidate to meet only the qualifications of the Kansas Constitution or also require that they be registered to vote. In an attempt to resolve the issue
Jeter said, “I can find no legal precedent in the state of Kansas.”
Jeter gave the board the following options.
1. Take no action. Accept the certified election results and have the new board members take office on July 1. 2013
2. By motion, second, and majority vote agree to accept the election result including Josh Waddell.
3. File an action in District Court requesting a judgement regarding the qualifications of Josh Waddell
4. Request an Attorney General’s opinion.
5. Refuse to recognize Josh Waddell as a new school board member for reason of lack of qualifications due to failure of being a registered voter.
Board Vice President Greg Schwartz thought the board needed to take some affirmative action, “I think sitting back and doing nothing is not the right course of action.” Schwartz made a motion that the board do nothing and accept the results from the County election officer and provided those 3 candidates signed their oath then they would be the next 3 board members.
Board member James Leiker provided a second to the motion.
Before the vote, board member Alan Moore said he favored taking no action at all on the issue. “I’ve been on the board through 5 elections and in each one of those, the board of education did not ratify or do anything to substantiate the results of the election.” Moore also clarified, “In my opinion, the only role and authority the board of education has, is to set policy and this is not a policy decision.”
The vote was taken and Schwartz’s motion passed 5-1. Board member Sharon Befort voted against it. The result means Josh Waddell will join Lance Bickle and Danielle Robben as new members of the USD 489 board on July 1, 2013.
The board then went into executive session to discuss non elected personnel items.