Upcoming Elections
2010 Primary Election: 08/3/10
2010 General Election: 11/2/10
Polling Place Hours: State law requires that polling places open at 7am and close at 7pm on Election Day; however, depending on the county, polls may open an hour earlier or close an hour later. All voters who are in line at 7pm are allowed to vote. Click here for more information.
Click here to download a Kansas Frequently Asked Questions document created by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono law firm partners.
Voter Registration Information
Click here for a Kansas Voter Registration Guide created by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono law firm partners.
Registration Deadlines
The deadline for registering to vote is the fifteenth day before the election.
2010 Primary Election: 07/19/10
2010 General Election: 10/18/10
Identification Required for Registration
The applicant is required to provide one of the following forms of identification where applying to register to vote:
- Driver's license number, if any;
- Non-driver's identification card number; or
- Last four digits of the voter's social security number, if any;
First time voters in the county of registration who do not provide an identification number must send with the application (1) a copy of a current, valid photo ID or (2) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or other government document.
If identification is not provided with the application, identification may be provided at the time of voting.
How to Check Registration
Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Contact your County Elections Official
Voting Information
Identification Required to Vote
When a voter appears at a polling place, the voter should announce his/her name to the Election Board workers. The voter may be asked to also provide his/her residence address and his/her signature on the registration book. If a voter is a first-time voter, valid identification will be required unless the voter has previously submitted current and valid identification in the county where registered.
Valid identification for first-time voters includes, by example, one of the following:
- Valid Kansas driver's license
- Non-driver's identification card
- Utility bill
- Bank statement
- Paycheck
- Government check or other document
If a first-time voter is unable or refuses to provide current and valid identification at the polling place, or if the name and address do not match the voter's name and address on the registration book or poll book, the voter may vote a provisional ballot.
How to Find Your Polling Place
Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Absentee Voting
Click here to visit GoVoteAbsentee.org, a resource for absentee voters.
- Kansas has adopted a "no-excuse absentee" system that is referred to as "advance voting." The traditional absentee voting system has been expanded to allow any registered voter to vote early.
- To vote by advance voting ballot, the voter must complete a written application and submit it in the county in which the voter resides, either in person or by mail.
- Deadlines
- An application for an advance voting ballot to be transmitted to the voter by mail must be made in writing no earlier than 90 days before the election, and an application for an advance voting ballot to be transmitted to a voter in person can be made beginning on the Tuesday prior to the election.
- A mailed application for an advance voting ballot for the general presidential election must be received by the voter's local County Election Officer not later than the last business day of the week preceding the general election.
- Unless an earlier date is designated by the County Election Officer, applications for advance voting ballots transmitted to the voter in person in the office of the County Election Officer must be filed by noon on the day before the election.
- An application for an advance voting ballot filed by a voter who has a temporary illness or disability or who is not proficient in reading the English language or by a person rendering assistance to such voter may be filed during the regular advance voting ballot application periods up to the close of the polls on Election Day.
- Based on the foregoing, for the 2010 General Election, the application for the advance voting ballot must be received:
- If delivered to voter by mail, by October 29, 2010.
- If delivered to voter in person, by noon on November 1, 2010.
- If for a voter with a temporary illness or disability or who is not proficient in reading English, by close of polls on November 2, 2010.
- If an advance voting ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received by the voter, the voter may request a provisional replacement ballot from the County Election Officer. When such a request is timely received, the County Election Officer is required to deliver the provisional replacement ballot to the voter if the voter is present in the office of the County Election Officer, or promptly transmit the provisional replacement ballot by mail to the voter at the address contained in the original application.
Early Voting
You may vote in person in the county election office starting the Tuesday before the election, or up to twenty days before the election, depending on the county. The deadline to cast advance voting ballots in person in the office of the County Election Officer is noon the day before Election Day.
Information For People who have Moved or Changed Addresses
Change of Residence Within County
- When a registered voter has moved to another address within the county of registration and has not reregistered, such voter will be allowed to vote a provisional ballot at the new polling place, on the condition that such registrant first completes an application for registration. The application will enable the County Election Officer to update the registration list for future elections.
Change of Residence to New County
- When a registered voter has moved to a new address outside of the county of registration, such voter must re-register by submitting a new voter registration application in order to be eligible to vote in the new county.
Information for People with Felony Convictions
Voting rights restored upon completion of sentence, including prison, parole and probation. However, upon completing the terms of the sentence, the felon must re-register to vote.
For more information, go to the Kansas Secretary of State's website, or click here to download a Kansas Election Protection manual created by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono law firm partners.
