United Kansas Party files lawsuits to challenge state law forbidding multi-party nominations

Jack Curtis, founding chairman of the United Kansas Party, says many right- and left-leaning independent voters in Kansas feel the Republican and Democratic parties don't represent their interest. The United Kansas Party would seek to initiate a process of cross-party nominations. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — The newly formed United Kansas Party and eight individuals collaborated to file a pair of lawsuits in an attempt to overturn a state law adopted more than a century ago to forbid candidates from accepting more than one political party nomination for the same office.

United Kansas chair Jack Curtis said the anti-fusion election law in Kansas, and comparable restraints adopted by Republican or Democratic majorities elsewhere in the United States, unconstitutionally forbid cross-party alliances among major party nominees and Populists, No Labels, Prohibitionists, Libertarians and others. He argued such laws were imposed to reinforce dominance of the two-party system and make minor parties electorally irrelevant.

The nearly identical lawsuits filed Thursday in the Saline and Reno county district courts — only plaintiff candidates and voters differ — alleged violation of the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights in terms of the right of free speech, to assemble and to have equal protection under law.

The complaints seek to have Kansas’ anti-fusion statute declared unconstitutional and enable candidates to accept more than one party nomination for an elective office.

“Any law invalidating our nominees undermines the fundamental rights of candidates to associate with the parties of their choice, and of parties and voters to choose their preferred nominees,” Curtis said. “We’re taking legal action to ensure the rights of our party, our candidates and Kansas voters are respected and the Kansas Constitution is honored.”

Defendants in the suits are Scott Schwab, the Kansas secretary of state; Donna Patton, the Reno County clerk; and Jamie Doss, the clerk in Saline County.

In June, Deputy Secretary of State Clay Barker sent a letter to Wichita attorneys Scott Poor and Sarah Foster, who represent the plaintiffs, that said candidates nominated by two or more recognized Kansas political parties would be compelled by state law to renounce all but one of the nominations.

If a candidate didn’t file notice of which nomination would be retained within seven days after party nominations were made official, Barker said the secretary of state’s office would unilaterally decide which nomination would survive and place the candidate’s name on the November ballot. The state Board of Canvassers plans to meet no later than Sept. 1 to certify primary election winners and issue party certificates of nomination.

“Given the unpredictability of election dynamics,” Barker said, “until early September no action can be taken by our office on the possibility of an individual receiving two nominations.”

Barker’s correspondence pointed to a state law that had prohibited since 1901 an individual who received two or more party nominations from appearing on the ballot more than once.

His letter referenced the potential of dual nominations in 2024 for J.C. Moore, a Haysville Republican and United Kansas candidate for Kansas Senate; Lori Blake, an Assaria Democratic and United Kansas candidate for Kansas House; and Rep. Jason Probst, a Hutchinson Democratic and United Kansas candidate for the House.

“I accepted United Kansas ’ nomination because the party fits my values,” Moore said. “As the two major parties drift further apart and extreme voices increasingly drown out common-sense candidates, fusion voting is the best way to ensure every Kansan once again feels represented and heard.”

Moore is competing in the August GOP primary against Sen. Chase Blasi, R-Wichita. The 26th District Senate race also features Democratic candidate Raymond Shore of Wichita.

Blake is an uncontested candidate in the Democratic primary for the 69th District House seat, a race that includes Rep. Clarke Sanders, R-Salina. Probst is seeking reelection in the 102nd District of the House. The two Republican candidates in the district are Kyler Sweely and Tyson Thrall, both of Hutchinson.

United Kansas was founded this year by Curtis and Sally Cauble, a former member of the Kansas State Board of Education who serves as the party’s vice chair.

In May, the secretary of state’s office declared United Kansas met requirements to be formally recognized in Kansas as a political party. In addition to the Democratic and Republican parties, United Kansas joined a roster with the No Labels Party and the Libertarian Party.

A core principle of United Kansas, which intends to support centrist candidates for local and state office, was incorporation into the electoral system of multiple political party nominations. Party officials say the reform would allow a broader spectrum of voters to have a voice in elections. In such a structure, votes would be tallied separately by party and added together to produce a final result.

Fusion voting would encourage minor political parties to organize around policy issues and attempt to influence outcome of elections without playing “spoiler” roles, United Kansas officials said.

“Since I got to the statehouse in 2017, I’ve watched polarization grow worse with each session,” said Probst, who accepted the United Kansas nomination and has no opponent in his Democratic primary. “Now is the time for good people from both sides of the aisle to collaborate and get things done for Kansans, which is why I accepted United Kansas ’ nomination.”

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