After repeatedly passing the buck on his failures as Missouri’s chief elections officer, Jason Kander sent a loud and clear signal to Missouri families: he will not be held accountable for his actions. If he’s so eager to bail on answering for his actions as an elected official, there’s no question Kander would just as quickly bail on Missouri families.
In case you missed it, over 60 polling locations in St. Louis County ran out of ballots during last week’s election. And that wasn’t the first time voters have been unable to cast a ballot under Kander’s watch. During the March presidential primary, precincts across the state ran out of ballots. And in 2014, nearly 20 percent of precincts in St. Louis County ran out of ballots.
Kander’s response? It’s someone else’s fault. Since Kander refuses to be held accountable, here are some questions you might consider asking him about his repeated failures to ensure ballot access for Missouri voters:
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If last week’s ballot shortage is someone else’s problem, why did you launch an investigation? Why didn’t you launch an investigation in 2014? Why didn’t you launch one in March?
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If your office is addressing ballot shortage problems now, shouldn’t you have addressed them a month ago? Two years ago? By failing to act then, are you not responsible for the problems that arose last week
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You said just seven months ago that, as Secretary of State, you “help local election authorities, basically counties for the most part, run their elections around the state.” So how are you not responsible for the debacle in St. Louis County?
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You said that your critics should “read the law in Missouri first,” but you also said it’s your job to help local authorities run their elections. Which time were you misconstruing your job responbilities for political gain?
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You are the state’s chief elections officer, yet you blamed these problems on someone else and wouldn’t answer questions before the state legislature. Why should Missouri families ever expect you to accept accountability for your actions?
- How can you change the culture of Washington if you won’t accept a shred of responsibility for problems that arose under your watch as an elected official?
Jason Kander owes voters an explanation. How much longer can he shirk responsibility for his failures as Missouri’s chief elections officer?