Topeka ? With at least two statewide races expected to be close, candidates and election officials face an unprecedented wrinkle in how a few primary ballots will be handled.

County clerks and election officers must accept ballots mailed by military personnel and Kansans living overseas through Aug. 12, six days after the polls in the state have closed.

As far as the secretary of state’s office knows, it will be the first time county officials have accepted any ballots after polls have closed. The extended deadline was the result of a federal lawsuit over congressional redistricting.

The number of ballots to be counted late is likely to number only in the hundreds. But with Republican primaries for governor and attorney general hard fought and, according to the last media poll, too close to call those ballots may be crucial.

The situation creates a scenario under which the GOP might not be certain of which candidate is its nominee for one or both of the offices until late-arriving ballots are counted.

Federal law requires states to give military personnel and residents leaving overseas 30 days to return their ballots, from the date they are mailed to such voters. Kansas law is more generous, allowing 45 days.

However, election officials didn’t begin mailing the ballots this year until July 12, only 25 days before today’s primary election.

The reason was congressional redistricting. Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Topeka, challenging the validity of the law redrawing the state’s four U.S. House districts.

A three-judge panel upheld the law on July 3; candidates had until July 9 to file. Thornburgh requested the extra six days to count the ballots mailed to military personnel and Kansans living overseas.

Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh estimated that about 1,000 ballots were mailed to military personnel and Kansans living overseas. He said his office would have a better of idea of how many have yet to be returned after polls close tonight.

He said the ballots were likely to be spread so thinly among the state’s counties, that county, judicial and Kansas House races weren’t likely to be affected. Where the late counting may have an effect, he said, is in close statewide races.

“This is the first time I’m aware of that we’ve ever counted ballots after the polls close on election night,” Thornburgh said.

The GOP governor’s and attorney general’s races seem the most likely to be close.

The Kansas Poll for those races, released Saturday, suggested that both races remained too close to call into the final days before the primary.

In the governor’s race, Wichita Mayor Bob Knight and State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger remained in a statistical dead heat, with Senate President Dave Kerr close behind them. About 31 percent of the 455 respondents said they were undecided, with a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.

In the attorney general’s race, Sen. David Adkins, of Leawood, led former state Rep. Phill Kline, of Shawnee, but the lead was within the margin of error. Nearly 39 percent of the 443 respondents said they were undecided.

The polling was organized by the Department of Communication Studies at Kansas University. It was sponsored by The Topeka Capital-Journal, CJOnline, KSNT-TV in Topeka, KSNW-TV in Wichita, WIBW AM and FM radio in Topeka, and The Associated Press.