TOPEKA (KSNT) – Multiple races remain tightly contested in Kansas as of Friday, following the Tuesday night general election. This includes the race to determine the next governor, as election officials count the remaining ballots included in a three-day grace period.
Election officials are counting the last advanced mail ballots that were cast for this year’s general election while several races remain without a clear winner. These ballots are included in the total tally for the general election due to an established three-day grace period. Advanced mail ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by county election offices by Nov. 6 to be eligible for inclusion in the general election in Kansas.
Kansas Secretary of State (SOS) Scott Schwab announced on Nov. 4 that close-race audits will be conducted for six races following the general election. These include the race for governor, secretary of state and attorney general, alongside three races in the Kansas House of Representatives.
Some of these races are separated by less than a hundred votes. As of 5 p.m. on Nov. 6, the vote totals for these races are represented below, according to the SOS website.
Race for governor
- Sen. Cindy Holscher (D) – 550,834
- Sen. Ty Masterson (R) – 543,247
Race for secretary of state
- Pat Proctor (R) – 521,223
- Jennifer Day (D) – 515,350
- Scott E. Morgan (UK) – 45,998
Race for attorney general
- Chris Mann (D) – 552,328
- Kris Kobach (R) – 538,959
Race for House District 27
- Sara Kiewiet (D) – 6,881
- Sean E. Tarwater (R) – 6,828
Race for House District 40
- Mika Stilwell (D) – 3,742
- David Buehler (R) – 3,813
Race for House District 117
- Brandon Holland (D) – 6,610
- Adam Turk (R) – 6,468
Close-race audits
Staff with the office of the SOS said a close-race audit is triggered when a race falls within 1% of the total votes cast and reported on election night. If this condition is met, a close-race audit will take place in addition to a post-election audit.
“The county election office shall conduct the audit in an additional 10% of all county precincts in the specified race, with a minimum of one precinct in the county. Per K.A.R. 7-47-1 ballot images cannot be used when conducting an audit. Races that are subject to close-race audit include those for federal and state legislative offices.”
SOS website excerpt
SOS personnel report that close-race audits are performed by each county’s staff, who will review all ballots selected to ensure the hand vote count is identical to the vote count from the tabulator machines.
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Post-election audits
County election workers conduct the post-election audit, which takes place following every election, according to the office of the SOS. The audit must be finished before the county canvass, which takes place by Nov. 16. The State Board of Canvassers has until Dec. 1 to certify official results.
For more information about election audits, click here. You can check our website for election results by clicking here.
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