Count In Kansas Governor's Race Turns To Provisional Ballots

[DonViejo]

By JOHN HANNA | August 13, 2018 6:47 am

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The counting of the last ballots in the tight and contentious Republican primary for Kansas governor will stretch out over the week and still might not settle the race.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Gov. Jeff Colyer were locked in a tight race after late mail-in ballots from all 105 counties were added to totals from advance voting and ballots cast at the polls on Aug. 7. The state’s 105 counties still must review nearly 9,000 provisional ballots and determine how many of them were cast in the Republican primary — and how many will be counted. They have until Aug. 20 to finish that process and certify their local results.

A look at the process for counting the remaining votes and a possible recount:

MAIL-IN BALLOTS

The Legislature last year changed the state’s law on mail-in ballots so that they were to be counted if they were postmarked Tuesday, the day of the primary, and arrived by Friday. Previously, they had to arrive by Election Day, and in the 2016 general election, more than 500 arrived afterward, said Bryan Caskey, the state elections director in the secretary of state’s office.

WHO COUNTS

While Kobach’s office provides guidance on the handling of ballots and supervises the counting, the work is done by the counties.

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