Republicans seem to really disagree with Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab
Earlier this week, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, joined Soledad O’Brien on ‘Matter of Fact’ to discuss the 2024 elections. Schwab, who is the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, said they are taking steps to ensure the security of the elections.
“We’re constantly working with our states on laws and also making sure things are funded to [what] they need to be, but overall we’re run by volunteers,” Schwab said. “I mean, few colleges have ‘degrees’ in elections. Your elections are run by your neighbors. If you don’t trust your neighbors, there may be an issue with you. By and large, we trust what we do. And our neighbors say—they may blame another state for example. But they’re nothing like the way their state runs the election.”
O’Brien questioned about working with partners like the FBI in order to secure elections. Schwab noted having conversations about touchscreen voter machines, stating they’re not really a concern, but rather that their poll books and data are a concern.
O’Brien then asked about his worries about people not trusting the elections. Schwab noted an op-ed he and his colleagues wrote blaming both parties for such narratives.
“Stacey Abrams in Georgia had five lawsuits and none of them won,” Schwab explained. “She claimed it was voter suppression in Georgia. And then Georgia, again, under Trump said it was voter fraud. It seems like this pendulum always swings back and forth depending on who wins and who loses. Was it voter suppression or was it voter fraud? But when we audit our elections, nothing changes.”
Schwab went on to use Kansas as an example, pointing to the 2022 ‘Value Them Both’ vote. He noted a gentleman who could not believe it lost, putting $180,000 on his personal credit card to have recounts only to have no counties flip and nothing change.
“After that happened, all the voter fraud concerns people—because they saw something on the internet or they heard a story—our phones quit ringing because you can’t argue with the results that’s been hand counted,” Schwab said.
On Wednesday, Kansas Secretary of State’s official X account posted a photo claiming that machines that count ballots are not connected to the internet.
#DYK 💡 pic.twitter.com/0JXoAso8vc
— Kansas Secretary of State (@KansasSOS) April 17, 2024
However, this photo was met with a lot of pushback.
"Machines that count ballots" are not connected to the Internet.
— CindyHoedel (@CindyHoedel) April 18, 2024
What about the voting machines used in Kansas?
Why would you only make a statement about the ballot counting machines? https://t.co/1DQc2yc8HJ
@CommunityNotes ☝️ https://t.co/XDuSb7E6Dp
— Thad Snider (@boiledfrog1776) April 18, 2024
— Kansas Reckoning (@KansasReckoning) April 18, 2024
Almost every comment pushed back against this claim in some way.
The very next day, Doug Billings, a Republican political commentator in Kansas City, Missouri and host of ‘The Right Side with Doug Billings’ podcast took to YouTube to state that you only need to ask one question to determine if someone is a Republican in name only (RINO) and that is to ask if the 2020 election was stolen. According to Billings, if a Republican does not believe the 2020 election was stolen, they are a RINO—alleging that only real Republicans believe elections are not secure.
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Ian Brannan
Ian Brannan is an independent journalist who founded The Kansas Constitutional in April 2022. His work focuses on issues including abortion, Convention of States, drug policy, education, gun policy, LGBT issues, media, and more.
