The short version.
Nebraska files county candidates locally, not with the Secretary of State. In 87 of the state's 93 counties that means the County Clerk, who doubles as the county's election official. Six counties — Buffalo, Douglas, Hall, Lancaster, Platte and Sarpy — have a separate Election Commissioner instead, appointed rather than elected, because Nebraska law requires or allows the office once a county passes a population threshold (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§32-207, 32-211). Either way, filing, fees and ballot access run through that county office, not Lincoln.
Most Nebraska county row offices — clerk, treasurer, attorney, sheriff, assessor, register of deeds, surveyor, clerk of the district court — serve four-year terms that all land on the same cycle, and 2026 is that cycle (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§32-517 to 32-526). Not every county elects every one of these separately — Nebraska law folds several into the county clerk once a county's population falls under a set threshold, or lets voters decide by ballot question whether to keep electing them — so the exact lineup on your ballot depends on your county. Your county clerk or election commissioner can tell you which offices on this page are actually contested where you live.
This page covers that for Keith County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the Nebraska Secretary of State.
Keith County by the numbers.
- In 2024, Keith County cast 4,199 votes for president: 81.4% Republican, 17.4% Democratic.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. Motion51 is ready to load your Keith County voter file the moment you send it over, so you can start finding your people now.
Key Nebraska dates.
Still open for the November 3, 2026 ballot
The by-petition route for partisan offices, which is all county offices, closed on August 3. One route remains and it runs late.
- Fri Oct 23, 2026, 5:00 p.m. WRITE-IN AFFIDAVIT. Any candidate for any office, including every county office, may file a notarized affidavit of intent plus the filing fee with the county clerk or election commissioner (Neb. Rev. Stat. secs. 32-615(1), 32-608(3)). The fee for a county office is 1 per cent of the annual salary. This is the second Friday before the election.
- Tue Sep 1, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Filing by petition for NONPARTISAN local office -- school board, natural resources district, educational service unit, second-class city council (sec. 32-617). Does not reach county offices, which are partisan.
- Mon Aug 3, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Filing by petition for partisan office -- CLOSED (sec. 32-617).
No vacancy is deemed to exist merely because no one from a party filed at the primary (sec. 32-627), so an empty line on the ballot does not open a door.
2028 is a thin county year
Most of the Nebraska courthouse was on the 2026 ballot -- sheriff, treasurer, county attorney and assessor all sit on the 1990-plus-four cycle and next run in 2030. 2028 brings about half the county board, plus clerk and register of deeds in counties over 400,000.
- Tue Feb 15, 2028, 5:00 p.m. (incumbents) / Wed Mar 1, 2028, 5:00 p.m. (everyone else) COMPUTED filing deadlines (Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 32-606(1)). Note 'incumbent' means holding ANY elective office, not the one you are seeking. Nebraska rolled both dates in 2026 when they fell on a weekend, so check the official calendar when it is published.
- Fri Mar 3, 2028 COMPUTED, and easy to miss: a county-only write-in affidavit deadline that forces an auto-advanced county office back onto the PRIMARY ballot (sec. 32-615(2)). Different from the October write-in deadline and buried in a different subsection.
- Tue May 9, 2028 COMPUTED primary (sec. 32-401).
- Tue Nov 7, 2028 COMPUTED general election (sec. 32-403).
A Nebraska county race can be over before the primary ballot is printed. Under sec. 32-811(1)(b), if only one candidate of a party files for a county office that candidate is declared nominated without opposition, the office comes off the primary ballot entirely and the name goes straight to November. The only way to force it back on is that March 3 write-in affidavit. Party registration is also frozen as of the first Friday in December of the prior year.
The 2026 dates come from the Nebraska Secretary of State's published 2026 election calendar and Neb. Rev. Stat. chapter 32, read on 2026-08-20. No 2028 calendar exists yet -- one is due by November 1, 2027 -- so those dates are arithmetic from statute. Confirm with your county clerk or election commissioner.
Offices on the ballot in Keith County.
These are the county row offices Nebraska elects on four-year terms landing on the 2026 cycle, wherever your county elects that office separately (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§32-517 to 32-526):
- County Clerk — or County Election Commissioner in Buffalo, Douglas, Hall, Lancaster, Platte and Sarpy Counties, where that office is appointed rather than elected
- County Attorney
- County Treasurer
- County Sheriff
- County Assessor, in counties that elect one separately
- Register of Deeds, in counties with a separate elected office
- County Surveyor, in counties that still elect one
- Clerk of the District Court, in counties with a separate elected office
- County Board — Commissioners or Supervisors — though board seats are often staggered, so not every seat is up in the same year
Nebraska law folds several of these offices into the county clerk once a county's population drops under a set threshold — an assessor, a district court clerk or a surveyor below roughly 3,500 to 20,000 people depending on the office — and lets voters keep or drop some of them by ballot question. Only the state's three largest counties (Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy) elect a County Engineer or Public Defender at all. Your county clerk or election commissioner can tell you exactly which offices are contested where you live, and which county board seats are on this year's ballot.
How to get on the ballot.
Almost every Nebraska county office is filled through a party primary, with a filing fee rather than a petition as the standard path onto the ballot; a petition route exists for candidates who are not registered with a party.
Filing for a party's nomination: file by March 2, 2026.
File a candidate filing form with your county clerk or election commissioner between January 5, 2026 and the deadline for your situation — February 17, 2026 if you already hold any elected office, March 2, 2026 if you do not (Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-606). A contested primary is decided at the May 12, 2026 primary; an uncontested race advances straight to the November 3 general.
- The filing fee for county office is 1% of the office's annual salary as of November 30, 2025, paid to the county clerk or election commissioner (Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-608(2)(a)).
- No fee is required for an office paid by per diem or under $500 a year, and a candidate who cannot afford the fee may file in forma pauperis instead (Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-608(4)-(5)).
- Debit and credit cards are not accepted for filing fees — cash, money order or check only.
You must be a registered voter affiliated with the party whose nomination you are seeking, and Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-612 bars switching party registration after December 5, 2025 for anyone seeking that party's nomination.
Running without a party: petition deadline August 3, 2026.
A candidate who is not registered with a political party may skip the primary and petition directly onto the November 3, 2026 general election ballot, filed with your county clerk or election commissioner by August 3, 2026 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§32-616, 32-617).
- The signature count for a county office is at least 20% of the registered voters who voted for Governor or President in the county at the last general election, capped at 2,000 signatures (Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-618(2)(b)).
- The same filing fee that applies to the party route also applies to a petition candidate — a petition does not replace the fee.
- Petition forms must follow the format Nebraska law sets out, including the required warning and circulator affidavit (Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-628); get the correct forms from your county clerk or election commissioner before circulating.
There is no cash filing-fee alternative for a write-in candidate either — write-ins pay the same fee as any other candidate when they file their affidavit.
Statutory references: Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-606 (candidate filing period and deadlines) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-608 (filing fees; 1% of salary for county office) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-618 (nomination by petition; signature counts) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-628 (petition format requirements) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-517 (county clerk; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-518 (register of deeds; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-519 (county assessor; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-520 (county sheriff; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-521 (county treasurer; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-522 (county attorney; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-523 (public defender; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-524 (clerk of the district court; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-525 (county surveyor; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-526 (county engineer; term) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-207 (election commissioner required over 100,000 population) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §32-211 (election commissioner optional, 20,000-100,000 population). Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.
The Keith County Clerk.
Your county clerk or election commissioner is the filing officer for county office in Nebraska — the office that takes your candidate filing form and fee, and answers what this page cannot, like exactly which offices and county board seats share your county's 2026 ballot.
- Office
- 511 N Spruce St., Ste. 102, Ogallala, NE 69153
- Phone
- (308) 284-4726 ext. 4
- [email protected]
Contact details verified 2026-08-13. Official statewide sources: Nebraska Secretary of State: Statewide Candidate Filing Guide · Nebraska Secretary of State: County Election Office Directory · Nebraska Secretary of State: 2026 Election Calendar.
Common questions.
When is the filing deadline to run for county office in Keith County?
It depends on whether you currently hold elected office. Incumbents file by February 17, 2026; everyone else files by March 2, 2026. Both dates are for the May 12, 2026 primary ballot, and both are filed with the Keith County Clerk or Election Commissioner, not the Secretary of State.
How much does it cost to run for county office in Keith County?
The filing fee is 1% of the office's annual salary as of November 30, 2025, paid to the Keith County Clerk or Election Commissioner. There is no fee for an office paid by per diem or under $500 a year, and a candidate who cannot afford the fee may file in forma pauperis instead.
How many signatures do I need to get on the ballot in Keith County?
If you are seeking a party's nomination, none — you file the form and pay the fee. If you are running without a party affiliation, you petition straight onto the November ballot with signatures from at least 20% of the county's registered voters who voted for Governor or President at the last general election, capped at 2,000.
Which county offices are on the ballot in Keith County in 2026?
Nebraska's county row offices — clerk, attorney, treasurer, sheriff, and, where your county elects them separately, assessor, register of deeds, surveyor and clerk of the district court — all serve four-year terms landing on the 2026 cycle. Not every county elects every one of these on its own, and county board seats are often staggered, so the Keith County Clerk or Election Commissioner can tell you exactly which seats are contested this year.
Where do I file to run for office in Keith County?
With the Keith County Clerk or Election Commissioner, whose address and phone number are above. That office is Keith County's filing officer for every county race and the one to ask which local seats share this year's ballot.
How many registered voters are in Keith County?
Motion51 does not hold the Nebraska voter file. Nebraska law lets a campaign request one from the Secretary of State or from the Keith County Clerk or Election Commissioner directly, but the file may not be posted online or made accessible over the internet, so we point you at the county office and the Secretary of State's own published registration figures rather than publishing a number here.
After you qualify: the field operation.
Nebraska's county filing process is quick once you know which deadline is yours, and it is the easy part. What decides a county race is the work on either side of it: figuring out which precincts turn out, lining up enough volunteers to cover them, and knocking doors in an order that makes sense before the May primary or the November general, whichever ballot your race is actually on.
That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.
Counties next to Keith.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.