The second of two Florida petition circulators convicted in connection with the drive that created No Labels Kansas has been sentenced to 18 months of probation, closing the state prosecution over forged signatures submitted during the 2023 party-recognition campaign.
George Edward Andrews and Jamie Louise Johnson each pleaded guilty to one count of election perjury and two counts of election forgery, according to a Wednesday state announcement. Andrews was sentenced this week in Johnson County District Court; Johnson received the same probation term in March.
Both defendants admitted forging the signatures of two people while working as paid petition circulators. A case report said the controlling punishment was 14 months in state prison, but the judge suspended that term in favor of probation. Andrews initially faced 30 criminal counts, while Johnson had faced 19.
The case matters beyond the two sentences because Kansas relies on sworn circulator statements when groups seek official party status. No Labels Kansas qualified in January 2024 after submitting a petition with signatures equal to 2% of the votes cast in the 2022 gubernatorial general election. Circulators can face criminal liability if they falsely attest that they witnessed a signature or help place forged names on an election petition.
Party status already ended
The organization’s status did not survive until the criminal case concluded. At No Labels Kansas’ request, Secretary of State Scott Schwab terminated its recognition in May. The secretary of state’s official notice directed county election offices to change affected voter registrations to unaffiliated.
In its May 15 withdrawal letter, the organization said it had been formed only to potentially nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates. It said that purpose no longer existed because it declined to field nominees in 2024 and did not plan to do so later.
That administrative action and the criminal prosecutions address different questions. The secretary of state handled whether the organization remained a recognized Kansas party and how county records should treat its registrants. The attorney general prosecuted the circulators’ false attestations and forged signatures. Party termination did not erase the alleged conduct or end the state’s cases.
What the outcome establishes
The probation sentences mean neither defendant will serve the suspended prison term unless the court later revokes probation. They also convert allegations from the original charging documents into convictions based on guilty pleas to three counts apiece.
For Kansas election administrators, the result reinforces that petition drives are not merely private organizing exercises. They are a legal route to official status, ballot access and changes in voter-registration records. The integrity of that process depends on authentic signatures and truthful circulator affidavits, even when invalid signatures do not ultimately decide whether a petition has enough valid support.
No Labels Kansas is no longer an active state party, and voters previously registered with it are now classified as unaffiliated under the state’s May directive. The convictions nevertheless remain part of the public record and mark the final criminal resolution of the Kansas petition drive.
