Kansas attorney general urges county to keep ballots longer than is allowed to aid sheriff’s probe

By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Republican attorney general in Kansas has urged the state’s most populous county to postpone a legally required destruction of old ballots. Attorney General Kris Kobach told the election commissioner in Johnson County to hold off because the sheriff there says his investigation of possible election crimes remains open. That investigation has resulted in no criminal charges after two years. Kobach sent a letter Wednesday to the election commissioner saying officials should preserve ballots from 2019, 2020 and 2021 even though state law required all of them to be destroyed by the fall of 2022. Sheriff Calvin Hayden says his investigation is open though there’s been no evidence of significant problems.