June 1 is the last day party-affiliated Kansans can change their voter registration. As KCUR’s Elle Moxley reports, both major parties are downplaying the likelihood voters will cross the aisle to vote in the August primary.
Kerry Gooch, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, says his focus is on registering unaffiliated voters as Democrats, not the deadline to switch parties.
“One of the stories that’s been told around the state is most elections happen in the Republican primary," he says. "We want to show people that’s not true.”
Gooch spent this week on the road trying to recruit candidates to run in November.
In an email, Clay Barker of the Kansas Republicans wrote that both parties discourage switching. He too says he’s more interested in how many unaffiliated voters claim party allegiance. The deadline for that is July 12.
