Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said Monday the recount of the landslide abortion vote, which reaffirmed the election outcome, shows no major fraud exists in the state’s elections.
The recount, which involved examining nearly 60% of the ballots cast, “proves once and for all that there is no systemic election fraud in our state’s election process,” Schwab, an Olathe Republican, said in a statement.
“Kansans should be confident that these results put to rest the unfounded claims of election fraud in our state and know that our elections are secure and that their vote counted,” Schwab said.
The recount of Kansas’ 59% to 41% rejection of an amendment that would have removed abortion rights from the state constitution took place in nine counties, including Sedgwick and Johnson. Schwab noted that the recount altered the results by less than 2/100ths of one percentage point — an infinitesimal fraction of the overall vote that included ballots from more than 922,000 Kansans.
According to vote totals posted by Schwab’s office, the recount resulted in 57 fewer “no” votes and six additional “yes” votes.
The roughly $120,000 recount was requested by Melissa Leavitt, a Colby resident, and largely funded by Mark Gietzen, a fringe Wichita anti-abortion activist. Both have advanced baseless allegations of election fraud.
Gietzen has said he will sue in an attempt to not pay for the cost of the recount in Sedgwick County because it didn’t finish before a Saturday deadline. The county instead certified the recount results on Sunday.
A recount also took place in the Republican race for state treasurer. State Rep. Steven Johnson, of Assaria, beat state Sen. Caryn Tyson, of Parker, by fewer than 400 votes. A limited recount of a handful of counties requested by Tyson produced very little change in the results.
A recount also took place in the Republican primary for Kansas House District 118 in the western part of the state. Jim Minnix defeated Rep. Tatum Lee by more than 1,200 votes.
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