Kansas secretary of state announces $2 million saved in primary in part due to low turnout

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab released the final cost of the March Presidential Preference Primary on Monday, revealing the state spent nearly $2 million less than the Legislature allocated for the election.

The primary was the third state-run primary in Kansas since 1980 and departed from the party-run caucus system Kansas typically relies on in the presidential nomination process. The funding of the contest transferred from political parties to the state, and lawmakers budgeted $4.8 million for the primary.

But turnout was much lower than expected, likely due to the nominations already being secured for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump when voting started and Kansans being less accustomed to the primary process. Official results show 137,836 voters out of 1.9 million registered voters, or about 10% of registered voters that belong to a political party and are eligible to vote in a primary.

“At the time the estimate was made, it was anticipated that there would be a larger pool of candidates still participating in the primary by the time Kansans went to the polls,” Schwab said on Monday. “The final cost of the primary shows that our trained county election professionals were able to conduct this election efficiently, on time and under budget.”

Kansas presidential primary cost about $20 per vote

The total cost translates to about $20 per vote in the election, significantly lower than the $35 per vote if the full budget was used. Schwab said the cost assumed by the state wasn't the most efficient use of state funds at a press conference the day of the Presidential Preference Primary when the assumed price tag was higher.

"Spending $5 million for 125,000 voters is probably not the most efficient use of state dollars," Schwab said.

The secretary of state speculated in March that future nomination processes will likely return to the state’s political parties. Kansas has only had three Presidential Preference Primaries since the 1980s, and legislators had to approve the contest through a bill.

Any future primary would again have to approved and funded through the legislative process.