Electronic filing restored statewide in Kansas after cyberattack
19 January 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Eight candidates are locked in for a historic special election happening this March in Kansas.
Kansas Secretary of State (SOS) Scott Schwab said four Democrats and four Republicans have signed up for the upcoming Presidential Preference Primary (PPP). Each candidate had to pay a $10,000 filing fee and send in notarized paperwork with the SOS’s office to register by the deadline at noon on Jan. 19.
Democrat candidates
Republican candidates
“I am pleased to have four candidates from each major political party file with our office,” Schwab said. “I encourage Kansans to get out and vote in this historic election.”
Schwab said his office will conduct a random selection of the ballot order for both political parties ahead of the election on March 19, 2024. This will be open to the public to witness at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 22 at the Memorial Hall Auditorium in Topeka.
What is the Presidential Preference Primary?
The PPP has only been used twice before in Kansas history in 1980 and 1992. It is described as a nontraditional election by the SOS. This is because the timelines and statutes for this election are different when compared to other primary elections or the general election. For example, there will be no three-day grace period for any mail-in ballots after election day. Upcoming deadlines before the election include:
Jan. 2 – Deadline for political parties to send the party rules for delegate allocation to the SOS.
Jan. 16 – Deadline for political parties to let the SOS know who is eligible to vote in each party’s PPP.
Jan. 19 – Candidates have until noon on Jan. 19 to file to run in the PPP.
Feb. 20 – Deadline to register to vote or update voter registration information to participate in the PPP. This is also the last day to apply for an advance voting mail ballot.
Feb. 28 – First day of advance voting. Advance ballots by mail are transmitted. In-person advance voting can also start.
March 18 – Last day for in-person advance voting.
March 19 – PPP begins.
A PPP requires an act by the Kansas Legislature to be conducted. The enactment takes responsibility away for conducting a caucus from the Republican and Democrat parties in Kansas, instead giving it to the state. It is called a preference primary as it is an election where the vote totals are given to a political party to allocate delegates to candidates at the national convention. Voters will not select the party candidate in this election.
You can learn more about the PPP by clicking here.
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