The Secretary of State wants election officials to use caution and be patient in their preparations for the upcoming August primary. Jay Ashcroft issued a statewide notice reminding election officials of the laws regarding removing names on the ballot, and told them to hold off as long as possible before having the ballots printed. Under state law, candidates have until June 26th to remove their names from the ballot, although at this point they have to do it through filing a court case to get an order from a judge. If it happens that the only candidate for a position, or all candidates for an open seat, remove their names from the ballot, then a short five-day filing period will open to allow potential new candidates to fill those voids.