Secretary of State
STATE OF KANSAS
| RON THORNBURGH Secretary of State |
STATE OF KANSAS |
Presidential Preference Primary
Kansas has conducted presidential preference primaries twice--in 1980 and 1992. Current statutes provide for a primary (PPP) every four years, but in 1996, 2000, and 2004 the PPP was canceled by the Legislature.
The Kansas PPP is a closed primary, which means only the parties whose candidates for governor received at least 5% of the vote in the last gubernatorial election may participate, and only the voters affiliated with those parties may vote. To date, only the Democratic and Republican parties have qualified. [KSA 25-4503(a)] It is referred to as a preference primary because no candidate is actually nominated at the PPP; rather, voters express their preferences among the candidates. Candidates build support nationwide through the various state primaries and caucuses in an attempt to secure enough support to be nominated at their national conventions to represent the party in the general election.
Party Rules
Each of the two major parties is required to certify to the Secretary of State by January 2 of the presidential election year the rules adopted by the party for selection of delegates to the national presidential nominating convention. The parties are not required to bind or commit convention delegates to the results of the PPP, but in the past their rules have required them to use the PPP results as a factor in determining convention delegates. Minor parties also nominate their presidential/vice presidential candidates at their national nominating conventions, but they do not participate in the PPP in Kansas. The law limits participation in the PPP to the two parties as defined above.
Date of the PPP
According to a law passed in 2000, the Secretary of State is authorized to identify five or more other states to participate in a multi-state PPP on a common date in presidential election years. If the Secretary is able to identify five or more such states, he/she certifies to the Governor, House of Representatives and Senate the names of the states and the date of the PPP. If the Secretary is unable to reach agreement with five or more states, he/she certifies that fact and specifies the date for the Kansas PPP, which must be on or before the first Tuesday in April. In either case, the certification must be made on or before November 3 of the year immediately preceding the presidential election. [KSA 25-4501(b)]
Candidate Filing Procedure
Candidates must file as Democrats or Republicans, although the law does not require them to be officially affiliated with the parties. They may file one of two ways: (1) a $100 fee accompanied by a candidate's declaration of intention, or (2) a petition containing signatures of 1,000 registered electors in the state who are affiliated with the candidate's party. Filings must be made at the Secretary of State's office before the deadline at noon on February 12, or the next business day if February 12 is a weekend or holiday.
Ballots
As is the case with regular closed primaries in Kansas, there is a Democratic ballot and a Republican ballot. Voters must be affiliated with the party to vote that party's ballot. [KSA 25-4502(a)]
As a cost-saving measure, a unique law authorizes the Secretary of State to print ballots for some or all counties. In the past the Secretary of State has allowed each county to determine if they want to print their own ballots or have the SOS print them. Some local units of government choose to have special question-submitted elections on the same ballot, which saves them much of the cost of the special elections. In such cases the county must print its own ballots.
The normal rules for ballot rotation by county and precinct do not apply to the PPP. The Secretary of State determines ballot order by drawing each party's candidates' names from a hat. The list of candidate names is then certified to each county. All ballots across the state are printed using the same order for candidates' names. [KSA 25-4503(d)] Ballots also must allow voters to vote for "None of the names shown." There is no write-in blank. [KSA 25-4503(b)]
Publishing Notice of the Election
The Secretary of State is required to publish notice of the election one time in one newspaper in each county at least 21 days before the election. The notice contains the list of candidates and the date of the election. [KSA 25-4503(c)] Counties are not required to publish notice of the PPP.
Canvassing
Results of the PPP in each county are tabulated by the county election officer and certified by the county board of canvassers using the same procedure as for other elections. The Secretary of State provides an abstract of votes cast for each county to use to certify their results to the Secretary of State. [KSA 25-4505] The state board of canvassers meets on call of the Secretary of State and certifies the final statewide results. [KSA 25-4506]
Expenses
The state reimburses the counties for the direct expenses of the PPP. The Secretary of State collects pre-election estimates from the counties and secures an appropriation from the Legislature to cover the counties' and Secretary of State's costs. Within 60 days after the PPP, the counties must send records indicating their actual expenses. The Secretary of State reviews these requests for reimbursement and, coordinating with the Division of Accounts and Reports, approves or rejects each item and prepares reimbursement checks and mails them to the respective county election officers. [KSA 25-4508] In determining which expenses may be reimbursed, it is helpful to review KAR 6-1-1 and KAR 6-1-2, even though these regulations were adopted for the purpose of apportioning the expenses for special elections among subdivisions of government within the county.
Legal References
K.S.A. 25-604(b)
K.S.A. 25-4501
- 25-4508
Attorney General Opinion 92-25
U.S. Supreme Court Eu v. San Francisco Democratic Committee