Jan 23, 2021

Kansas county will not fight firing of election official

Posted Jan 23, 2021 11:02 PM
Voters waiting in line in Wichita -photo courtesy Sedgwick County
Voters waiting in line in Wichita -photo courtesy Sedgwick County

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County commissioners have decided to not fight the firing of Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman after Secretary of State Scott Schwab promised the county a role in choosing her successor.

Lehman lost her job for violating a policy by remotely accessing the state’s voter registration database when working from home while fighting cancer during the coronavirus pandemic.

Commissioners complimented Lehman for conducting a nearly flawless election, but opted not to propose legislation to scale back Schwab’s authority to pick the top election official in the state’s four most populous counties.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman says she is losing her job for violating a policy by remotely accessing the state’s voter registration database when working from home while fighting cancer during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lehman said Wednesday that Secretary of State Scott Schwab informed her earlier this month that when her term as election commissioner expires on July 19, he did not intend to appoint her to another term.

Lehman said she “knowingly chose” to violate Schwab’s policy in order to direct a fair and accurate Presidential election. Schwab says this was “not a hasty decision,” and they could not jeopardize the safety of Kansas election systems to the benefit of one.