On the November 5 ballot, The Fort Scott School District 234 and the Bourbon County Commission had the following questions about who/how many can serve as representatives of their constituents in their respective entities.

USD 234 Question

“Shall the method of election in Unified School District No. 234, Bourbon County, Kansas, be changed from the six-member district method of election, under which the school district is not divided into any member districts and all board members are elected at large?

The vote was 3,515 yes and 1,578 no, on November 5.

What’s next?

“We have advertised for an open board position,” said USD 234 Superintendent Destry Brown. “We will repost the position for at-large candidates now that it has passed. Next year, when we have four positions open for election, anyone can file for the open positions. Then, voters will see the whole group of candidates and vote for their top four. The four candidates with the most votes then become board members.”

The Bourbon County Commission Question

“Shall the current number of Bourbon County Commissioner Districts set forth in KSA 19-203(a)(b)(c)(d) & (e), be increased to five (5) Commissioner Districts?

3,769 voted yes and 2,238 voted no.

According to Kansas Law, this is the process of moving from three to five commissioners:

Sec. 5. K.S.A. 19-204a  reads as follows: 19-204a.  When the voters of a county approve a change in the number of county commissioner districts at an election held under K.S.A. 19-204(c), and amendments thereto, the board of county commissioners, on or before January 1 immediately following such election, shall adopt a resolution dividing the county into the number of districts approved by the voters. If the board of county commissioners fails to adopt such resolution within the time prescribed, the chief judge of the district court of the county, on or before the following January 31, shall order the county divided into the appropriate number of districts, according to https://www.sos.ks.gov/publications/register/Volume-43/Issues/Issue-16/04-18-24-52068.html#:~:text=(c)%20The%20board%20of%20county%20commissioners%20of,of%20the%20county%20are%20entitled%20to%20vote.

The unofficial statement of votes cast with write-ins, submitted by Bourbon County Clerk Jennifer Hawkins.

“Please keep in mind there are still mail-in and provisional ballots to be counted.,” she said.

The following are the unofficial results with all precincts reporting, as sent to fortscott.biz by the Bourbon County Clerk Jennifer Hawkins at 8:45 p.m. on November 5.

“The turnout with these votes counted is 51%. We will still have provisional and ballots by mail to count at the canvass, so that will not be the final turnout,” she said.

Two questions will be decided by Bourbon County voters at the end of November 5th’s election, along with choosing the leaders at all government levels. At a recent Bourbon County Commission meeting Clerk Jennifer Hawkins laid out the Kansas Law prohibiting electioneering, following is the excerpt from the minutes.

Electioneering Not Allowed

Jennifer Hawkins, County Clerk, discussed the upcoming General Election and went over what electioneering is.

“Jennifer stated that KSA 25-2430 outlines electioneering and defines it as

“knowingly attempting to persuade or influence eligible voters to vote for or against a particular candidate, party or question submitted, including wearing, exhibiting or distributing labels, signs, posters, stickers other materials that clearly identify a candidate in the election or clearly indicate support or opposition to a question submitted election, within any polling place, on election day or advance voting site, during the time period allowed by law for casting a ballot by advance voting, or within a radius of 250 feet from the entrance thereof.”

“Jennifer explained this means that there cannot be any t-shirts, hats, flags on vehicles, magnets on vehicles, pins, or other wearable advertisement containing a candidate’s name or slogan.

“Jennifer said that the statue exempts “bumper stickers that are affixed to a motor vehicle that is used to transport voters to a polling place or to an advance voting site for the purpose of voting.”

“Jennifer said that any political yard signs near a polling place cannot be within 250 feet of an entrance.”

Questions On The Ballot

County Question

“Shall the current number of Bourbon County Commissioner Districts set forth in KSA 19-203(a)(b)(c)(d) & (e), be increased to five (5) Commissioner Districts?

Yes or No

Commissioner Brandon Whisenhunt said that the question is on the ballot because of a petition that was passed around the county to increase the number of commissioners.

The number of petition signers was not going to meet the deadline but was coming close to the required number, and the petitioner, Michael Hoyt, requested that the commission put it on the ballot for the voters to decide.  In a 2 to 1 vote, Clifton Beth and Whisenhunt voted yes and Jim Harris voted no.

“I am hoping it will cause more discussion of issues,” Whisenhunt said. “There will be more discussion with five people talking about an issue instead of three.”

USD 234 Question

“Shall the method of election in Unified School District No. 234, Bourbon County, Kansas, be changed from the six-member district method of election, under which the school district is not divided into any member districts and all board members are elected at large?

Yes or No

Destry Brown, Superintendent of USD 234 provided the following ballot question explanation.

“The USD # 234 Board of Education is asking patrons to consider a change to how Board of Education members are selected. Currently, each member is chosen from a specific area within the district boundaries, and all voters within the district vote on every position.

“This was done years ago when consolidation was done and the
district wanted to have representation from the different school communities: Winfield Scott, Eugene Ware, and rural schools like Fulton.

“Today, all students in the district attend all our schools. No attendance center boundaries exist any longer.

“In recent years, we have had to fill positions on the Board of Education due to death, movement of members out of the district, changes in job responsibilities, and retirement.

The district has found it difficult to find people to run for the Board of Education based on these specific areas that were designated years ago. Consequently, we only have six board members right now.

“We are asking the community to consider changing all our Board of Education members to at-large seats.

“This will allow people in any area of the district to run for the Board of Education.

“Some concerns have been voiced that all the board members could be elected from one neighborhood. Theoretically, that could be possible. However, it has not occurred in the districts that use the at-large format. In fact, the makeup of those boards often are more diverse.

“What would that look like? Next year, the district will have four positions open.

“Anyone interested in becoming a board member can file for a position. Suppose six people decide to run for the board. Then, the ballot next November will list all six people, and voters will select four candidates they would like to have on the Board
of Education.

“The four with the most votes, then become board members no matter where they live within the district boundaries.”