Before there was COVID-19, states around the country were looking for new ways to increase voter participation to select the Democratic candidate. In 2016, in the height of the election cycle, the Kansas Democratic Party had slightly less than 40,000 voters participate in a caucus. What if, the officers thought, we could do things differently?
With the leadership of Chair Vicki Hiatt and staff, the Kansas Democratic Party proposed three big changes in the way caucus would be held: first, the majority would be done by vote through mail. Second, while some voters could participate on caucus day, we would anticipate that number to be sharply less, and they would simply drop a ballot and go, and finally, the party would offer Ranked Choice Voting. No one, however, could have anticipated COVID-19’s impact on the May 2nd day. Changing plans, the party announced in-person voting would have to be cancelled for safety, and the caucus would be mail only. You would think, combined with the late voting date and the fact that the winner has been determined might drive down voter participation. Instead, the party today reported that voter participation will be up by 350% or more, and ballots are still coming in, every day.
The Kansas City Star covered the story:
Kansas Democrats have already more than tripled their turnout from the 2016 presidential caucus after switching to an all-mail May 2 party primary this year.
As of Monday evening, the party had processed 138,430 ballots compared to a turnout of 39,266 voters in 2016, when caucus goers went for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
So, what does this really mean? It means that more people will participate if you make the process simpler. Allowing voters to participate by mail was a huge success. I privately believe we can get close, or surpass, 400% voter turnout in 2020 as compared to 2016, and it is for a race that is decided. That says something.
What it really means, though, is that Democratic efforts should continue to work on expanding Vote By Mail solutions in general elections and state-run primaries. If a small state party motivated to do the right thing and provide Democratic voters with the option to do it, then we have to look at this as a test case for how we move forward on expanding voting rights.