RON THORNBURGH Secretary of State

STATE OF KANSAS

Memorial Hall, 1st Floor 120 SW 10th Avenue Topeka, KS 66612-1594 (785) 296-4564 www.kssos.org

GENERAL GUIDELINES
Candidates for public office may be nominated either by political party nomination or independent nomination. Democratic and Republican candidates must run in the primary and may file by either fee or petition. Candidates of other recognized parties (currently, Libertarian and Reform) do not run in the primary, but are nominated for the general election by the party caucus or convention. Independent candidates do not run in the primary and may file for the general election only by petition. All candidates must pay report fees and all non-federal candidates must appoint treasurers and file periodic campaign finance reports.

FILING DEADLINE
Democratic and Republican party candidates who wish to appear on the primary ballot on August 4, 1998, must file by noon June 10, 1998. KSA 25-205 Libertarian and Reform party candidates nominated by caucus or convention must have nomination papers filed by the party in the Secretary of State’s office by noon June 10 in order to appear on the general election ballot. KSA 25-202 Independent candidates must file nomination petitions by noon August 3, 1998. KSA 25-305(b)

OBTAINING FORMS
Petition forms and declaration of intention forms (used to file by fee) for national offices may be obtained only through the Secretary of State’s office. Forms for state offices may be obtained either at the Secretary of State’s office or the county election office. Forms for county and township offices may be obtained only at the county election office.

FILING LOCATION
Candidates for national and state offices, for state legislature and for judicial offices file at the Secretary of State’s office. The signature on a declaration of intention may be attested at the county election office and the declaration then filed with the Secretary of State’s office. NOTE: The candidate is not considered filed until the declaration and fee are received by the Secretary of State’s office. (KSA 25-208) It is the responsibility of the candidate, not the county election officer, to ensure that filing documents are sent to and received by the Secretary of State. Candidates for county, township and precinct committeemen and committeewomen file at the county election office. (KSA 25-208) Precinct committee candidates may have their signatures attested by a notary public rather than the county election officer, but their declarations of intention must be filed with the county election officer. (KSA 25-206)

FILING PROCEDURE

Filing by Fee

Only Democratic and Republican primary candidates may file by fee. The filing fee is either a set amount or based on a percentage of the salary of the office the candidate is seeking. Gubernatorial candidates file by fee pursuant to KSA 25-4006, and all other partisan primary candidates file pursuant to KSA 25-206.

Filing by Petition

National and State Offices Elected on a Statewide Basis
U.S. Senator, Governor/Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner

Pairs of Democratic and Republican primary candidates for Governor/ Lt. Governor must have signatures of 1% of the party vote for Secretary of State in the last general election. KSA 25-4005 Democratic and Republican primary candidates for other statewide offices must have signatures of 1% of the party’s total voter registration. KSA 25-205(e)(1)

Independent candidates must have 5,000 signatures of registered voters. KSA 25-303(b)

National and State Offices Elected on Less Than a Statewide Basis
US Representative, State Senator, State Representative, District Judge, District Magistrate Judge, State Board of Education

Democratic and Republican primary candidates (except state board of education) must have signatures of 2% of the party’s total voter registration from the district. KSA 25-205(e)(2)

Independent candidates (except state board of education) must have signatures of 4% of the registered voters of the district. The petition must be signed by at least 25 voters but not more than 5,000 voters. KSA 25-303(c)

Candidates for state board of education must have signatures of 200 voters of the district. KSA 25-1903

County Offices
Democratic and Republican primary candidates must have signatures of 3% of the party’s total registration from the county or district. KSA 25-205(e)(3)

Independent candidates must have signatures of 4% of the registered voters of the county or district. KSA 25-303(c)

Township Offices
Democratic and Republican primary candidates must have signatures of 3% of the party’s total registration from the township. KSA 25-205(e)(4)

Independent candidates must have signatures of 5% of the township’s total voter registration. KSA 25-303(d)

FILING CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS
The Kansas Commission on Governmental Standards and Conduct (KCGSC) oversees campaign finance and ethics laws for the State of Kansas. This agency monitors the campaign finance and other reports submitted by state elected officials and candidates. Before spending any funds on a political campaign, a candidate must file an appointment of treasurer form with the Secretary of State. (KSA 25-4144) This form must be filed within 20 days after the candidate has filed for office. KCGSC provides these forms to candidates. Candidates must file campaign finance reports by the dates listed below. Reports must include contributions and expenditures of candidates for that reporting period. Candidates for local offices file reports with the county election officer pursuant to KSA 25-4148 and 25-901.

Candidates for national offices file reports with the Federal Election Commission and the Kansas Secretary of State according to federal requirements.