Kansas lawmakers are reviewing ways to remove deceased voters from the state’s voter rolls, according to Rep. Pat Proctor, chair of the Kansas House Elections Committee.

During an interview with KFRM’s Kyle Bauer, Proctor said an interim committee meeting in October highlighted concerns about outdated voter records. A data presentation showed that, based on census comparisons, Kansas has more people age 65 and older listed on voter rolls than are currently living in the state. He said the issue is not due to a lack of effort by county clerks, but limits in state law.

“And there are more people 65 and over on the voter rolls than there are alive in the state of Kansas. It’s not that our clerks aren’t amazing people doing an amazing job. It’s that they can only do the things that we authorize them in law to do,” he said.

Until recently, clerks could remove deceased voters only if the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a death certificate, the Social Security Administration reported a death, or a newspaper obituary was published. Proctor noted that many deaths are not captured through those methods, especially as fewer obituaries appear in print.

“This year we added another way, which is online obituaries because a lot of funeral homes is a service when somebody passes away. They put up an online obituary and now clerks can use that,” he said.

Proctor also said additional changes are being considered, including allowing close family members to submit an affidavit reporting a death and partnering with credit reporting agencies to identify deceased individuals. Proctor emphasized the goal is not to address voter fraud, but to improve public confidence in Kansas elections by keeping voter rolls accurate.