A Kansas county shredded old ballots as the law required, but the sheriff wanted to save them

By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The most populous county in Kansas has confirmed that it has rejected demands from the local sheriff and the state attorney general to preserve old ballots and records longer than allowed by state law for an election fraud investigation that has yet to result in any criminal charges. Johnson County issued a statement Thursday saying its election office finished Wednesday with materials from 2019, 2020 and 2021. That job was supposed to be done by the fall of 2022 but the county had held off. Sheriff Calvin Hayden launched an election fraud investigation in 2021. Attorney General Kris Kobach called for preserving the materials in December.