Politics 2012: Basketball not only game in Kansas

Come Saturday, Kansas Republicans will be going to the polls to vote for their favorite candidate in the first primary following Super Tuesday's 10-state sweepstakes.

Forty delegates are at stake in the Jayhawk State's hybrid primary.

"The Kansas caucus is going to be pretty important," said Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party.

No candidate is expected to sweep all Super Tuesday states.

So far, the campaigns for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas have organized in Kansas, but not Mitt Romney, state GOP officials told the Kansas City Star.

"I don't think Republican voters have locked in on anybody," said Mike Pirner, Kansas state director for Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign.

Kansas, he said, is a "momentum builder."

But as Republican contenders battle to be the party's presidential candidate against President Obama in November, a group beyond the traditional two-party system is developing another nominating method leaders say is non-partisan and designed to return the voting process to the people, the Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) Press reported.

The non-profit Americans Elect is trying to gain ballot access in all 50 states to offer a third choice for president -- a candidate selected through an online process accessible to all American voters.

Americans Elect already has been ballot-certified in 17 states, including Kansas, the newspaper said.

"Americans Elect is an alternative to the dysfunctional party process, and gives all voters a greater voice, a greater choice and an equal vote, no matter their party or where they live," the group said on its Web site. "And by nominating a non-partisan ticket through a secure, online convention, Americans Elect will create a path for our leaders to start working together constructively to develop fresh ideas and real solutions that address the serious challenges facing our country. It's time to change politics as usual."

Organizers said Americans Elect isn't a third party and is unaffiliated.