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. For the first time since 1992,[3] Kansas Democrats did not use a caucus to apportion delegates. Instead, the Kansas Democratic Party used a party-run primary with ranked-choice voting.[4] Mail-in voting was planned between March 30 and April 24, with ballots planned to be mailed to every registed Democrat in the state by April 4.[5] Due to the pandemic every registered Democrat received mail-in ballots already on March 30, the first day to vote in the election. The postmark deadline to return completed mail-in ballots was extended to voting day, May 2. Election results were released the next day, May 3.[6] Kansans would have been able to utilize same-day voter registration for in-person voting.

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 had 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 39 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between five and eight were allocated to each of the state's four congressional districts and another four were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to nine at-large pledged delegates.[7] Originally planned with 33 delegates, the final number included a 20% bonus of 6 additional delegates awarded by the Democratic National Committee due to the May date, which belonged to Stage III on the primary timetable.[8][9]

Senate district conventions would have met on Saturday, May 9, to nominate delegates for subsequent congressional district conventions on Saturday, May 16, where the district-level national convention delegates should have been designated. The state convention was planned to be held on Saturday, June 6, to vote on the nine at-large and four PLEO delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 39 pledged delegates Kansas sent to the national convention were 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]

The following individuals appeared on the ballot in Kansas:

• Joe Biden
• Tulsi Gabbard (withdrawn)
• Bernie Sanders (withdrawn)
• Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn)

There was also an uncommited option.

• 2020 Kansas elections

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