Johnson County 2026 August Primary Election
Reference and Resource Materials for the Voter Guide with Recommended Candidates
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Thank you for making a plan to vote!
Just looking for the Voter Guide with Recommended Candidates? Scroll all the way to the bottom.
Looking for voting tips/resources or details about candidates on the guide?
Scroll through this document to find information on the following items to help you navigate the August primary and make informed decisions:
✅ Voting in a primary & advice for unaffiliated voters
✅ Voting Tips: Sample ballots, early voting, Election Day polling places, etc.
✅ Voting by Mail
✅ Supreme Court Amendment
✅ US Senate race
✅ Democratic gubernatorial primary
Scroll on by anything that is not important or relevant to you.
VOTING IN A PRIMARY
Primaries can be confusing, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t vote.
This is your opportunity to vote for the candidate you want to see on the November ballot. When too few people show up (typical turnout is less than 30%), we often end up with candidates in November who don’t share the values of the majority of Kansans.
And once again, the supermajority in the legislature is trying to push through a constitutional amendment by putting it on the ballot in a low turnout election. Don’t fall for it. Show up and vote no! More on that below.
Make sure your friends know the importance of voting in this primary!
🚨Unaffiliated Voters: We highly recommend affiliating with a party when you vote.
Everyone should have a voice in deciding who will be on their November ballot.
Our advice:
Do you have a strong preference in the Democratic Governor race? Vote the democratic ballot.
Don’t have a strong preference in that race? Vote the republican ballot. Help advance Vicki Schmidt to the November ballot. You can read more about why we need Vicki on the November ballot in our past newsletter—scroll down to the Governor section of that newsletter.
Affiliating with a party at the polls is EASY. Simply let the poll worker know which ballot (republican or democrat) you would like. You will then sign your name to affiliate with that party. You can also easily switch back to unaffiliated by re-registering at votekansas.gov after Sept 1.
VOTING TIPS & ELECTION RESOURCES
Before you head to the polls, take note of the information below.
✅ Check your calendar! Will you be out of town on Election Day (August 4)?
You can still vote! Use the information in the Voting Early In-Person and Voting by Mail sections to make a plan to vote.
✅ Use Voter View (myvoteinfo.voteks.org) for the following:
Confirm your party affiliation — know which party’s ballot you will receive. If you are unaffiliated, this will give you some time to consider whether you want to vote in a party primary
Find your Election Day polling location
Review your sample ballot before going to the polls. Know what’s on your ballot so you can do your research ahead of time and ensure there are no surprises
After looking yourself up, scroll down to find the Sample Ballot link that looks like this:
Unaffiliated voters will only see non-partisan races on your ballot. If you want to see what would be on the republican or democratic ballot for your area, enter your address at ksballot.org.
✅ Voting Early In-Person Early voting starts Saturday July 18
All locations are open Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm, except on the Monday before Election Day (August 3) when the locations will be open 8am-noon.
Pick a location that is most convenient for you and vote early!
📌 PRO TIP: Candidates have access to systems that show when you’ve voted. Vote early and those calls and texts will stop!
VOTING BY MAIL
The new law addressed in the graphic below was put on hold by a Kansas judge on July 16. So for now, the three day grace period has been restored—ballots POSTMARKED by Election Day will be counted if they are received by 5pm on Friday, August 7.
But, we still want to make people aware of this law as Attorney General Kris Kobach has filed an appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.
JUST IN CASE, follow the advice in the graphic to avoid mail delays
Do everything in your power to have your ballot arrive by 7pm on Election Day.
Apply for your ballot ASAP
Mail Ballot Application from the JoCo Election office (can submit via text or email)Use a 24-hour mail ballot drop box — most JoCo libraries and the two election offices
Take it to an Early Voting or Election Day polling place (during operating hours)
If mailing, go inside the post office and request a postmark; these are no longer automatic
If mailing, consider expediting
Our other recommendation…
VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO WILL PROTECT OUR RIGHT TO VOTE—you won’t see some of these until the November ballot
In particular, vote for:
Chris Mann for Attorney General (Kris Kobach is notorious for restricting voting rights)
Jennifer Day for Secretary of State (challenger Pat Proctor pushed for the new law and many other laws making it harder to vote; he would like to allow voting only on Election Day)
Any of the Democratic Governor nominees and probably Republican Vicki Schmidt
No Republican incumbent state legislators except for Rep. Mark Schreiber (Emporia); all other incumbents, besides Schreiber, have voted for laws making it harder to vote
📌 PRO TIP: You can track the status of your mail ballot—when it was mailed to you and when it was received by the election office—on Voter View (myvoteinfo.voteks.org).
SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT
This vote is more consequential than most people probably realize.
The amendment on the ballot seeks to abolish our merit-based system of appointing Supreme Court justices with partisan elections, opening up Kansas courts up to politics and the influence of billionaires and special interest groups.
In 2025, Wisconsin saw over $100 million spent on their Supreme Court race—attack ads blanketed TV and social media with tons of money pouring in from outside the state in an attempt to influence Wisconsin voters.
Our courts have been integral in protecting things like:
✅ our right to vote (exhibit A in the mail ballot section),
✅ public education funding, and
✅ our right to make our own medical decisions.
Allowing seats on our highest court to effectively be for sale to the highest bidder could result in the overturning of previous rulings or threaten the future protection of these values Kansans hold dear.
Kansans weren’t asking for this change and the amendment didn’t end up on the August ballot by accident. The GOP supermajority in the legislature increased their numbers after the 2024 election and finally found an opening to try and change the courts who’ve served as a check on them. And instead of putting it on the November ballot, they placed it on the ballot in a low turnout August primary.
VOTE NO and please encourage others to turnout for this election.
For more information, these two organizations are good resources
Kansas United for Impartial Courts (kuic.org) — Follow on Facebook | Instagram
Kansas Appleseed — Follow on Facebook | Instagram
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY — U.S. SENATE RACE
This is a race where several candidates aligned well with the issues important to us. The recommendation ultimately went to the candidate we believe is best positioned to win in November—Adam Hamilton.
Quite simply, we recognize that within the confines of our current political system, money matters.
We don’t like that fact. But the stark differences in fundraising for this national level race are hard to ignore. Based on past competitive senate races, we expect it will take as much as $30 million for a candidate to be a true contender in this race. For this reason, we believe Adam Hamilton is our most realistic chance to meet our goal of replacing Roger Marshall with someone who will better represent Kansas.
You can read more about this in our recent newsletter, An Honest Conversation about Defeating Roger Marshall.
But, this graphic does a good job of telling the story.
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY — GOVERNOR
Apologies for the homework on this one.
We’re providing the link to our recent newsletter where we’ve compiled a bunch of resources for you to learn about the democratic candidates for Governor so you can make an informed choice. As you get to know them, see who resonates with you and who you think will resonate with voters across the state.
We think the question to try and answer is…Who do you think can win in November?
The Kansas Governor Democratic Primary: Three Good Candidates, One Tough Choice
I’m using a lot of ‘we’ and ‘us’ in this newsletter as the process of selecting recommended candidates for the soon to be published Voter Guide is more of a group project with knowledgeable friends who help me tremendously when researching candidates. And for this race, many of us are all over the place.
VOTER GUIDE WITH RECOMMENDED CANDIDATES
We always encourage everyone to do your own research, but for those looking for a little help, we are happy to share our voter guide that includes an explanation for why these candidates are recommended.
Review your sample ballot and then look for the corresponding races on the guide.
Take a screenshot and save to your phone or find a PDF version below.
If on your computer, and trying to share via a text, try copying and pasting the images into a Word doc or email first and then copy & paste into a text.
