On Jan. 20, legislators on the Kansas House Elections Committee heard from Ballotpedia as they consider a bill to move local and school board elections from odd-numbered to even-numbered election years.

HB 2452 would apply to city and county races, as well as elections for school board, community college board, and public utility board. 

The hearing featured testimony from Ballotpedia staff writer Spencer Richardson on turnout in on-cycle and off-cycle elections in Kansas. On-cycle elections are those held alongside federal elections in November of even years, with off-cycle elections making up all other elections.

In his testimony, Richardson compared election dates in the U.S. to a pyramid: "[I]f on-cycle presidential elections form the base, and on-cycle midterms fill out the middle portion, off-cycle elections make up the capstone,” he told committee members. “Because of the smaller turnout, it represents a smaller portion of the pyramid.”

Richardson’s research found that an average of 61.7% of registered voters cast a ballot in Kansas during the last four presidential elections, compared with 88.5% nationally. In the last four midterm elections, turnout averaged 46.15% in Kansas, compared with 72.56% nationally. And turnout in Kansas’ four largest counties in the last four odd-numbered year elections averaged 20.91%. Richardson also found that turnout in Kansas’ largest counties in the 2025 election was around 44 percentage points lower than in the 2024 presidential election.

Rep. Pat Proctor (R), chair of the House Elections Committee, which sponsored the bill, said, “Turnout is determined by what’s on the ballot, and if you only have a handful of local races, you get less turnout.”

Harvey County Clerk Rick Piepho said that while more voters might cast a ballot if local races were in on-cycle elections, “it’s not proven whether they would be an informed voter or not, whereas, at least the ones that are turning out now, I would say, are probably informed, because they’re making an effort to come vote in an odd year.”

If lawmakers approve the bill, Kansas would become the 15th state to hold school board elections mostly in on-cycle years. 

It would also be the second year in a row that legislators in a state voted to move at least some local elections to even-numbered years. 

In 2025, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed SB 50, which requires all local municipal elections to be held concurrently with a regularly scheduled statewide primary or general election. Previously, municipalities could choose whether to have their elections in an even-numbered year.

So far this year, state legislators are considering close to 150 bills related to election dates, including bills carried over from 2025.