Tuesday is registration deadline for presidential preference primary in Kansas

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – We are a month out from Kansas holding a presidential preference primary for the first time since 1992 and the third time in Kansas history.

According to the Kansas Secretary of State website, presidential preference primary means vote totals are given to a political party, which will then allocate delegates to candidates at the national convention rather than just one winner for the state. Kansas usually holds caucuses.

Tuesday, Feb. 20 is the deadline to register for the March 19 presidential preference primary. Voters wishing to change their party affiliation also must do so by Tuesday.

In addition to the move from traditional caucuses, there’s another big deadline to be aware of that’s different than other elections.

“If you would like to vote by mail, your application must be in our hands by the end of business [Tuesday], which is 5 p.m., so we can process that and get a mail ballot out to you,” Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater said.

Those mail-in ballots are due by 7 p.m. on Election Day. With the presidential preference primary, there is no three-day grace period.

“Meaning if you drop off your mail ballot in the mail on Election Day, thinking the postmark is going to let it count, it will not,” Rainwater said. “It has to be in our physical possession by the close of polls on Election Day. That’s a huge difference from all other elections because all other elections, if the ballot is postmarked by Election Day, we can count it up to three days after Election Day.”

Only Democrats and Republicans will be voting in the March 19 primary. Those who are unaffiliated and wish to participate can declare a party on Election Day and receive that party’s ballot.

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com