Kansas ballots will be mailed without a Democrat in the Senate race

Kansas election officials say ballots will go out to voters without a Democratic nominee listed for U.S. Senate after all.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach has told county election officials to begin sending out ballots to voters overseas and in the military starting Saturday, instead of delaying the process by a week so that Democrats could appoint a nominee, a spokeswoman for his office confirmed.

Along with the ballots, voters will receive a letter cautioning them that they could be receiving new, replacement ballots later on if Democrats decide to appoint a nominee. In-state voters will not receive ballots until after Oct. 15.

On Thursday, the Kansas Supreme Court struck the name of Democratic challenger Chad Taylor, a district attorney from the Topeka area, from the November ballot. Taylor dropped out of the race earlier this month and asked that his name be removed from the ballot, but Kobach, a Republican, declined to do so on technical grounds, which prompted court action.

Thursday’s ruling left the embattled incumbent, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, in a one-on-one race against Greg Orman, a businessman and well-funded independent candidate.

Kobach had told reporters this week that state law allows him the right to appoint a replacement for the Democrat on the ballot, but did not elaborate on any plans to do so.

After the ruling Thursday, Kobach said he would hold off on mailing ballots, giving the Democratic Party the opportunity to appoint its own nominee by Sept. 26.

Samantha Poetter, a spokeswoman for Kobach, said the secretary of state reversed course Friday “in order to follow federal law,” which requires ballots be mailed out within 45 days of the election. That deadline is Saturday.

“The top priority is making sure that everybody can vote,” Poetter told The Times.

New ballots could still be mailed out, Poetter said, if state Democrats nominate a candidate for the Senate race.

That’s unlikely to happen, since party officials applauded Thursday’s ruling, largely ignoring Kobach’s announcement that he would allow them to appoint a new nominee.

Further complicating matters, a Democratic voter filed suit late Thursday to try to force the party to place a new nominee on the ballot.

For more breaking news, follow me @cmaiduc