Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has directed county election officials to start mailing ballots to voters overseas Saturday without having a Democratic nominee listed for the U.S. Senate.
The Democrat dropped out of the race against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, pushed out by some party leaders who wanted to improve the chances that independent candidate Greg Orman would defeat Roberts.
Kobach spokeswoman Samantha Poetter confirmed Friday that the secretary of state had decided against delaying the mailing of ballots to military personnel and other U.S. citizens overseas.
He had said Thursday that the deadline for starting the mailings would be pushed back to Sept. 27. Kobach wanted Democrats to name a new candidate after the Kansas Supreme Court ordered him to remove Chad Taylor's name from the ballot.
