TOPEKA (KSNT) — With the 2026 midterm election approaching fast, some unusual factors are coming into play that could add extra hurdles for the state of Kansas.
On Nov. 3, 2026, Kansas voters will hit the polls for the 2026 general election. On the ballot will be important races such as the governor’s race, the senate race and more. But outside of the ballot box, officials are preparing to deal with some unique happenings.
Our Kansas Capitol Bureau connected with the Kansas Secretary of State’s (SOS) office on Monday, Nov. 2 to learn more about three things that officials are preparing for ahead of the election.
Re-counts
Here in this upcoming midterm election, there are several races on the ballot that are unusually tight. So tight, that they could trigger a re-count.
According to the SOS, “Any federal, statewide, or state legislative race that is within 1% of the total number of votes tallied on election night shall be audited.”
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Recent polling suggests that the following races are all neck and neck, and could possibly trigger a re-count on election night:
- Kansas Gubernatorial election: Ty Masterson (R) vs. Cindy Holscher (D)
- Kansas U.S Senate election: Roger Marshall (R) vs. Adam Hamilton (D)
- Kansas Attorney General election: Kris Kobach (R) vs. Chris Mann (D)
Election monitors
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to send federal monitors all across the country, 13 of which will be in Kansas on election day. These agents will monitor the election process to ensure things are running smoothly and that ballots are being counted fairly.
Eight officers will be in Wyandotte County, three in Sedgwick County and two in Johnson County. Officials with the Kansas SOS office said the DOJ will not disclose which specific polling locations they will be monitoring.
While DOJ election monitoring isn’t unusual, our Kansas Capitol Bureau spoke with Governor Laura Kelly regarding this topic. Kelly acknowledged that with President Donald Trump in the White House, she is taking some extra precautions.
“We have been coordinating with the Secretary of State’s office and other agencies,” Kelly said. “Things are different now in our country than they’ve been before. We’ve seen the election denying and those kinds of things. With that said, I feel like we will have safe and secure elections like we always have in Kansas.”
As for the Kansas SOS office, they said it’s business as usual.
“The justice department has communicated with our office and plans to send election monitors to Kansas,” said a spokesperson for the Kansas Secretary of State. “This is a common practice for Kansas to have DOJ monitors dating back to 2002.”
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High voter turnout
Officials told our Kansas Capitol Bureau that this midterm election could see historic voter turnout. This means poll workers could have their hands full.
Final advanced voting numbers show that for this year’s midterm election, 392,184 Kansans have already cast their ballots during the early voting period. In 2022, only 251,115 Kansans voted ahead of election day.
Officials said this is an indication that election day numbers could soar in a big way as well, putting extra stress on election offices statewide.
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