2020 Kansas Democratic presidential primary

Kansas was the sole state in the Democratic primaries with in-person voting set for May 2.[2] Because of the coronavirus pandemic, however, in person voting was cancelled and only mail-in voting was utilized. Mail-in voting took place between March 30 and April 24, with ballots mailed to every registed Democrat in the state by April 4.[3] For the first time since 1992,[4] Kansas Democrats did not use a caucus to apportion delegates. Instead, the Kansas Democratic Party used a party-run primary with ranked-choice voting.[5] Kansans were able to utilize same-day voter registration for in-person voting and vote using a ranked-choice ballot for both mail-in and in-person voting.

On March 30, registered Democrats received mail-in ballots to vote in the election. The postmark deadline to return completed mail-in ballots was April 24. Election results were released the next day, April 25.[6]

In the closed party-run primary, voters ranked their top five candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. Among candidates who did not receive a minimum 15% of all first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first-choices was eliminated. Voters who chose this candidate as their top choice had their votes given to their next choice. If after redistribution there were still candidates with fewer than 15% of the vote, the process repeated, round by round, until all candidates remaining have reached at least 15% of the vote. Candidates earned their proportional share of delegates, based on the percentage that each candidate received in the final round of the total tally.

The 41 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 41 pledged delegates, between four and seven are allocated to each of the state's four congressional districts and another four are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to seven at-large pledged delegates. These delegate totals do not account for pledged delegate bonuses or penalties from timing or clustering.[7]

Because the primary was completed after May 1,[8] the Democratic National Committee awarded Kansas a 20 percent bonus in delegates for a total of 47 delegates instead of the original 39. The Kansas Democratic Party announced on December 9, 2019, that the Democratic National Committee had declared Kansas' Delegate Selection Plan to be in full compliance.[9]

Senate district conventions will meet on Saturday, May 9, to nominate delegates for subsequent congressional district conventions on Saturday, May 16, where the district-level national convention delegates will be designated. The state convention will subsequently be held on Saturday, June 6, to vote on the seven pledged at-large and four PLEO delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 41 pledged delegates Kansas sends to the national convention will be joined by six unpledged PLEO delegates (four members of the Democratic National Committee; a sole U.S. representative in Sharice Davids; and the governor, Laura Kelly).[7]

Inactive votes in final round: 3,690 (2.5%)

• 2020 Kansas elections

• The Green Papers delegate allocation summary
• Kansas Democratic Party draft delegate selection plan