It may be one of the closest races ever for the race for Kansas Governor. Today, county election officials across Kansas will begin reviewing provisional ballots from last week’s primary to arrive at a final official vote count in the tight Republican race for governor.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach led Gov. Jeff Colyer by 110 votes out of more than 313,000 cast as of Friday evening. That was after late mail-in ballots were added to totals from absentee voting and ballots cast at the polls Tuesday.
County officials will review nearly 9,000 provisional ballots, given to voters at the polls when their eligibility is in question. Most counties start their canvass meetings Monday, but some will meet later this week. County boards of canvassers have until Aug. 20 to meet and consider provisional ballots.
Kobach recused himself from over seeing the count on Friday in an effort to instill faith in the vote counting.
Kobach said Assistant Sec. of State Eric Rucker would take his place on the state canvassing board that will certify election results. The other two members are Colyer and Attorney General Derek Schmidt. Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann is a member of the objections board that would handle any complaints. Kobach said he would not publicly call on Colyer and Mann to recuse themselves from those positions, but added, “should you decide to follow my lead and address any appearance of a conflict of interest by removing yourselves from these boards, please let my office know immediately and let my office know who will serve on these boards in your place.”
There is also the possibility of a recount being called for once all the provisional ballots have been counted, so the final result may not be know for a couple weeks.