Kansas

The deadline to cure (correct) your absentee/mail ballot for a signature issue is before your county board of canvassers meets, which can be as early as the Monday after the election or as late as 13 days after. County election officials will attempt to notify you if there is a ballot envelope signature issue. 

If you cast a provisional ballot due to not having the proper photo ID, the provisional ballot will not be considered valid until you submit your acceptable ID before your county board of canvassers meets. You can contact your county election officials for the canvassing date and time. Track the status of your ballot using your state’s online tool. 

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

Some counties have drop boxes to collect your completed ballot. Drop boxes close at 7 pm on Election Day. Be sure to include your signature on the envelope. 

To check the availability and location of drop boxes, contact your county election office here.

You may vote in person at your county elections office starting the Tuesday before Election Day or up to 20 days before the election, depending on the county. Some counties offer satellite voting sites during the 20-day advance voting period. To find such locations, contact your county election office.

The next election date can be found here https://www.vote411.org/kansas.

For more information on elections, contact your local Board of Elections.

To be eligible to vote you must be:

• A United States citizen
• 18 years of age or older (you may register to vote when you are 17 years old, however, you may not vote in any election until you're 18 years old)
• A Kansas resident

Incarcerated Voters & Returning Citizens: 

In Kansas, a felony conviction results in the loss of voting rights until the terms of the felony sentence is complete. Your right to vote is restored immediately after you are released from prison and have completed any court-ordered supervision, probation, or parole. The voter registration form includes an affidavit above the signature line attesting that an individual’s right to vote has been restored. Pretrial detention and misdemeanor convictions do not restrict your voting rights. 

Voters without traditional residence: 

It is not mandatory for citizens to possess a "permanent home" for voter registration. A citizen can provide an alternative description of their residence, even if they are experiencing homelessness, as long as it enables the authorities to identify and assign a voting precinct to them. This precinct assignment ensures that the voter receives the appropriate ballot. The mailing address on their registration form can be a PO box, local shelter, advocacy organization, outreach center, or the home of someone who will accept mail for them. 

No proof of citizenship is required when registering to vote.

There are three ways to register to vote in Kansas:

1) Using the federal voter registration form.

2) At the DMV while applying for a new or renewing an existing license.

3) Using the state voter registration form, which can be filled out in person or online.

Voters must show photo ID when casting a vote.

Acceptable forms of ID include:

• A driver's license or nondriver's ID card issued by Kansas, or by another state or district in of the U.S.
• A concealed carry of handgun license issued by Kansas, or a concealed carry of handgun or weapon license issued by another state or district of the U.S.
• A U.S. passport
• An employee badge or ID document issued by a municipal, county, state, or federal government office or agency
• A military ID issued by the U.S.
• A student ID card issued by an accredited post-secondary institution of education in the state of Kansas.
• A public assistance ID card issued by a municipal, county, state, or federal government office or agency.
• An ID card issued by an Indian tribe

Photo ID is also required for early voting and absentee voting.

EXCEPTIONS AVAILABLE: Persons over 65 may use expired documentation as proof of identity. Also, if your religious beliefs prohibit photographic ID you may be exempt, but you must sign a Declaration of Religious Objection before voting.

FREE ID: ID cards for persons over 17 years old are free if the applicant signs an affidavit attesting that the ID is needed for purposes of voting in Kansas and that the applicant does not possess any other form of identification qualifying as acceptable ID for voting. The applicant must also produce evidence that he/she is a registered voter in Kansas. Find that affidavit here. Unique among the states, Kansas provides free birth certificates to persons born in Kansas if needed to acquire a photo ID for voting.

Voters can call or text 844-338-8743 at any time to reach VoteRiders Voter ID Helpline

Official results are never released on Election Day. Election officials are working around the clock to count an unprecedented number of ballots, and it’s essential that they take the time to make sure every vote is counted.

Provisional ballots will be counted after the county Board of Canvassers meets. They decide which ballots satisfy the criteria to be counted. The Election Office then counts those provisional ballots. After the final counting, the Board of Canvassers reconvenes to certify the election results.

For Presidential elections, local results will be certified no later than the Tuesday after Election Day.

Official election results will be uploaded on Kansas’s Secretary of State website, no later than December 1st, 2024. 

You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.

If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

You can make sure we have safe, fair, and efficient elections for all. Become a poll worker today!

In order to be a poll worker in Kansas, you must be:

• Registered to vote in Kansas
• At least 18 years of age
• Entitled to compensation
• Political affiliation required
• A resident of the area in which you will vote
• Complete required training
• Students who are at least 16 years old and meet all other elector qualifications may be selected to serve

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Polling places are open from 7:00am to 7:00pm.

You can find your polling place by utilizing your state resource.

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

Kansas has a hybrid primary system. If you are registered to with a particular party, you must vote in that parties primary. However, if you are unaffiliated with any political party, you can choose which party’s primary you wish to vote in.

If you have any questions about your state’s primary election, please contact your local election officials.

You may vote by provisional ballot if your name is not on the voter registration list or if there is a question about your qualifications to vote.

PROVISIONAL BALLOT VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:

• Complete a new voter registration card.
• Mark your ballot and seal it in the envelope provided.
• Sign the statement on the envelope.

Provisional Ballots are counted either the Monday or the second Thursday after the Election.

Voters have the right to vote in an accessible voting place and request assistance if needed. Each polling place is required to have an electronic voting machine equipped to allow disabled voters, including visually impaired voters, to vote in secret.

For more information, you can utilize the Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD) resource.

You can now register to vote online! To register to vote online, you must have a valid Kansas driver's license or ID card. If you do not have either of these documents, you may register to vote using the paper form. You must re-register each time you change your name, address, or party affiliation for voting.

The deadline to register to vote by mail or in person is 21 days before the election.

Any registered voter may leave work for a period of up to two hours to vote. If the polls are open before or after the work shift, the voter may only take such time off that, when added to the amount of time before or after work that the polls are open, it does not exceed two hours.

To verify your voter registration status

The voting systems used in Kansas are optical scan, DRE and paper ballots. To find out what system(s) your county uses, click here.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show pages. On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a touch screen, where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. Some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used in a few places on Election Day. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box.

You can learn more about voting systems by checking out the Elections Assistance Commission's (EAC) resource or Verified Voting.