Brief (1)
House Sub. for SB 244 relates to Presidential Preference Primary elections to be held in the State of Kansas.
The bill amends the statutes requiring that a Presidential Preference Primary be held every fourth year beginning in 2000 by providing for a Presidential Preference Primary beginning in 2004.
The bill would also require the Secretary of State, beginning in November 2003, to certify to the Governor, the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of the Senate a common date on which at least five other states will hold a Presidential Preference Primary, convention, or caucus. This certification would take place on or before November 1 of the year preceding a Presidential Preference Primary (November 3 in the case of 2003).
If a common date cannot be certified, the Secretary of State would establish the date, on or before the first Tuesday of April of the following year, on which the Presidential Preference Primary would be held.
Background
Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh testified to the Committee in favor of the bill. There were no opponents to the bill presenting testimony to the Committee.
A fiscal note on the substitute bill was unavailable.
The amendment by the House Committee of the Whole deleted a provision that, if a common date is not certified, a Presidential Preference Primary would not be held. Delegates to the national convention would be selected as provided by party rules. The amendment also deleted provisions requiring the Secretary of State to refund fees collected from candidates for the 2000 Presidential Preference Primary and stating that delegates and alternates to the 2000 national conventions would be selected as provided by party rules.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html