TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The sheriff in Kansas’ most populous county says he took local elections for granted — until former President Donald Trump lost there in 2020.
Now he has assigned detectives to investigate what he claims is election fraud, even though there is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines in 2020. Calvin Hayden in Johnson County, which covers the Kansas City suburbs, is not the only sheriff in the US to try to secure a greater role for his office in the investigation of elections.
Proponents of baseless conspiracy theories that the last presidential election was stolen by Trump are pushing the dubious theory that county sheriffs can access voting machines and interfere with the conduct of elections — and also have virtually unchecked power in their counties.
Voting rights advocates and election experts said any attempts by law enforcement to interfere in the election would be worrisome and would increase the threat posed by Trump’s continued spread of lies about the 2020 election.
“What we see time and time again is that those who support the ‘Big Lie’ find channels for groups of people who feel they can help perpetuate this conspiracy theory and undermine the credibility of the election and potentially cast doubt on them in the future,” said David Levine, a former election representative who is now a fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a nonpartisan institute with staff in Washington and Brussels whose mission includes combating efforts to undermine democratic institutions.
Of course, law enforcement can play an important role in elections by sharing intelligence, protecting election workers and equipment, and investigating potential election crimes. But that’s usually done after election administrators ask for help.
Hayden appeared at “FreedomFest” in Las Vegas earlier this month, organized by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, although his office said he was not a member of the group.
On the scene with him were Sheriffs Dar Leaf of Barry County in southwest Michigan and Chris Schmaling of Racine County in Wisconsin, south of Milwaukee. Both say they are investigating allegations of election fraud, and both accuse state officials of violating election laws.
“We’ve been educating ourselves about the election,” Hayden told the crowd. “I sent my detectives – I have a cyber man. I sent him over to start assessing what was going on with the machines.
Hayden, a Republican, did not elaborate and declined to be interviewed this week, citing what he said was his ongoing investigation. State and local election officials in Kansas said his office did not gain access to voting machines, and other Johnson County officials said there were no indications of problems with the 2020 election there.
The Constitutional Sheriffs Group states on its website that the sheriff’s power in a county is greater than that of any other official and “even supersedes the powers of the president.” Leaf filed a lawsuit in June against Michigan’s attorney general and secretary of state, accusing them of trying to stifle his investigation. He said the sheriff “has no superiors in his county.”
The “constitutional sheriffs” movement has become visible in recent years as some sheriffs — including Hayden — have opposed imposing mask or vaccination requirements during the coronavirus pandemic.
“All of a sudden, it was like the lights came on. It’s the sheriffs,” said Kathryn Engelbrecht, founder of the election conspiracy group True the Vote, speaking as part of a panel at the recent Sheriffs’ Constitutional Gathering in Las Vegas. “That’s who can do these investigations. This is who we can trust.”
It’s unclear how many sheriffs are part of the movement, although the national group’s founder, Richard Mack, said last year that about 300 of the nation’s 3,000 sheriffs are members, according to The Washington Post. Mack did not respond this week to phone and email requests for an interview.
“It’s like a lot of these theories — there’s no legal basis,” said Steven McAllister, Kansas’ top federal prosecutor for most of the Trump administration. “They are subject to state law. They are certainly subject to federal law. They are not some sort of supreme petty kings in their shires, whether they think so or not.
Hayden said in a public statement that since the fall of 2021, he has received more than 200 reports of alleged fraud in local elections. He said his department had a legal duty to investigate “any criminal allegation”.
But a memo from Peg Trent, Johnson County’s general counsel, suggests Hayden went further in a July 5 meeting with her and county elections officials.
Trent said Hayden questioned the use of ballot drop boxes in libraries, called for limiting the hours they would be available and suggested his staff pick up the ballots. She said his staff also asked to have a deputy in the room while the ballots were being counted.
“As we’ve discussed, my concern is that these requests create the impression that the sheriff’s office is trying to interfere in an election,” she wrote in a July 7 memo sent to Hayden, the county commissioners and the county manager.
Hayden issued a statement that he “strongly disagrees” with her account of the encounter.
There is no evidence to support Trump’s claims of a stolen 2020 election or to suggest widespread fraud or tampering with voting machines or ballot boxes. Dozens of lawsuits brought by Trump and his allies since the election have been dismissed by judges, including Trump appointees.
“With the exception of a small handful of individual cases of voter fraud around the country, there is absolutely no reason to suspect that election-related crime was committed in 2020,” said David Becker, a former attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and an election law expert who now directs the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
But the false claims sowed doubt among many Republican voters, prompted death threats against election officials and led to a slew of new voting restrictions in GOP-controlled states. Trump allies sought access to voting equipment and turned the normally routine process of certifying election results into a contentious one.
“The danger of someone buying into a conspiracy theory is losing confidence in the election results,” said Chris Harvey, a former director of state elections in Georgia. “It’s an added danger if it’s law enforcement. Their job is to enforce the laws and maintain order. If they are perceived to have no confidence in what is going on, it will just continue to seep into society.
Harvey is part of a new group bringing together election and law enforcement officials. The Commission on Safe and Secure Elections is comprised of 32 current and former election and law enforcement officials with the goal of building stronger relationships and providing training.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, the state’s top elections official, said Hayden had not contacted his office as part of the investigation. Schwab has repeatedly said he is confident the 2020 state election went well.
“I think overwhelmingly people trust the electoral system,” he said.
Hayden said during the Las Vegas meeting that his concerns about voter fraud have increased since Democrat Joe Biden won Johnson County in the 2020 presidential election, as the county has consistently “voted Republican” for more than a century. But that argument — made by conspiracy theorists — ignores the fact that Democrats have carried Johnson County multiple times in gubernatorial races during that time, including Laura Kelly’s winning 2018 campaign.
Republicans maintain their traditional advantage in voter registration there, but Johnson County is more Democratic than it was 30 years ago.
“Johnson County is supporting Biden — well, it’s not an anomaly,” said Davis Hammett, leader of the Kansas voting rights group Loud Light. “It happened in suburban counties across the country.”
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Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York also contributed.
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