Elections—Presidential Preference Primary; Senate Sub. for HB 2053
Senate Sub. for HB 2053 amends election law to provide for a presidential preference
primary to be held on March 19, 2024, and would establish voter registration and voting
procedures for such election.
2024 Presidential Preference Primary Election
The bill requires, on March 19, 2024, each political party that is a recognized political
party participating in primary elections in accordance with current law to hold a presidential
preference primary election for the purpose of electing the preferred nominee of the political
party for the office of President and Vice President of the United States. [Note: This requirement
does not apply to any political party whose candidate for Governor did not poll at least 5.0
percent of the total vote cast for all candidates for Governor in the preceding general election.]
The bill authorizes any political party to submit written notice to the Secretary of State
(Secretary) on or before December 1, 2023, that such political party has elected to not
participate in the presidential preference primary election.
Candidate for a Political Party Nomination
The bill requires a candidate for a political party nomination for President of the United
States to file the appropriate registration information with the Federal Election Commission
(FEC) to become a candidate for President. The bill also requires a candidate for a political
party’s presidential nomination to file one of the following with the Secretary no later than 12:00
noon on the date that is 60 days prior to the date of the presidential preference primary:
●A declaration of intent to become a candidate filed by the candidate and
accompanied by a fee of $10,000 (replacing a $100 fee in current law); or
●A petition in the form prescribed by continuing law, signed by not less than 5,000
registered electors, who are affiliated with the political party of such candidate as
shown by the party affiliation list. The Secretary would determine the sufficiency
of each petition, and the determination would be final.
The bill states all fees received by the Secretary pursuant to this section would be
remitted to the State Treasurer and deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the State
General Fund (SGF).
Kansas Legislative Research Department 1 2023 Summary of Legislation Election Procedures
Advance Voting
The bill requires advance voting ballot applications to be filed between January 1 of the
year in which a presidential preference primary election is held and 30 days prior to the day of
such election.
The bill requires advance voting ballots for the presidential preference primary to be
delivered to the county board of canvassers by:
●12:00 noon on the day preceding the election for advance voting ballots
transmitted in person; and
●The close of polls on the date of the election for advance voting ballots
transmitted by mail.
An advance voting ballot will not be counted if not received by the county election officer
or any polling place after the closing time of the polls on the date of the election.
Voter Registration
The bill requires county election officers to provide for the registration of voters at one or
more places on all days except the 30 days preceding the day of any presidential preference
primary election. [Note: Under continuing law, registration is also closed when main offices of
county government are closed and 20 days preceding a primary, general, or other election.]
The bill also requires county election officers to accept and process applications
received by voter registration agencies and the Division of Vehicles, Department of Revenue, no
later than the 31st day preceding the date of the presidential preference primary election or
mailed voter registration applications that are postmarked no later than the 31st day preceding
the presidential preference primary election except, if the postmark is illegible or missing, mailed
voter registration applications received in the mail no later than the 19th day preceding the day
of such election would be accepted and processed.
Audit
The bill requires an audit to be performed manually and review all paper ballots after a
presidential preference primary election and prior to the meeting of the county board of
canvassers. [Note: The audit would be conducted in accordance with continuing law.]
Notice
The bill requires notice of the presidential preference primary election to be published on
the Secretary’s website and the website of each county election office no less than 31 days prior
Kansas Legislative Research Department 2 2023 Summary of Legislation to the presidential preference primary election. [Note: Continuing law requires the Secretary to
publish notice in one newspaper in each county of the state where a newspaper is published.]
After publishing notice, the Secretary is required to certify the amount of moneys
expended on publication and transmit a copy of the certification to the Director of Accounts and
Reports. Upon receipt of certification, the Director of Accounts and Reports will transfer an
amount of money equal to the certified amounts from the SGF to the Information Services Fee
Fund of the Secretary and transmit a notification of the transfer to the Directors of the Budget
and Legislative Research.
Board of Canvassers
The bill requires the county board of canvassers of each county to meet no later than
eight days after a presidential preference primary election is held and canvass the vote of the
preference primary. The county board of canvassers will prepare an abstract of the vote in such
county and transmit the abstract to the Secretary by use of secure email transmission or other
means approved by the Secretary no later than the tenth day after the day of the election.
The bill requires the Secretary to publish in the Kansas Register a certified statement of
the candidates for President for each party and the number of votes each received on a
statewide basis and for each congressional district as determined by the State Board of
Canvassers. The Secretary will also be required to publish the report on the Secretary’s
website.
The bill requires the State Board of Canvassers to meet on or before April 12, 2024, for
any presidential preference primary election held in 2024.
Political Party Rules and National Party Convention Delegates
The bill makes a conforming amendment to remove language referring to the selection
of delegates for national party conventions.
The bill requires the party rules regarding selection of delegates and alternates to a
national party convention be adopted by the committees of the political parties to be published
on the Secretary’s website.
Kansas Legislative Research Department 3 2023 Summary of Legislation