By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Following the President's Day holiday on Monday, action was light at the Barton County Commission meeting Tuesday morning. Fittingly, the one agenda item pertained to the Presidential Preference Primary (PPP) election scheduled for March 19. County Clerk Bev Schmeidler explained how the PPP is different than other elections.
"This takes an act from the Kansas legislature for this election as it takes the responsibility from the Republic and Democratic parties in Kansas from conducting a caucus, and instead has the state conduct a primary election," she said. "It's a 'preference' primary because it's an election where the vote totals are given to a political party to allocate delegates to candidates at a national convention."
The deadline to register to vote or change voter registration information for the PPP is Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. All applications for a mail ballot must also be signed and returned to the clerk's office by 5 p.m. Kansas has held just two PPPs in the past, but even the 1992 election differed from the 2024 version.
"The last time, it would have been in conjunction with a municipal election in the spring so it was tagged onto another election," Schmeidler said. "Now, since we don't have municipal elections in the spring, people aren't used to voting this time of year. I think it's caught everybody off-guard."
All standard polling locations in Barton County will be open for the election on March 19. The county will be reimbursed by the state for direct expenses related to the election.
"They will pay for all of our ballots, our coding, our election workers, the rental of our election spaces we pay for," said Schmeidler. "Not our staff time. That comes out of our budget."
Schmeidler said some of her staff arrives at 6 a.m. on Election Day, and no one goes home until all the ballots are counted and results submitted to the state secretary of state's office. Kansas will hold its normal primary election in August with the general election to follow in November. Anyone with questions about the Presidential Preference Primary can call the clerk's office at (620) 793-1835.