by Mary Rupert
Voter turnout in Wyandotte County was going fairly well at about 4:15 p.m. Election Day, Aug. 2, according to Election Commissioner Bruce Newby.
Polls are open until 7 p.m. today for the primary election.
As of about 4:15 p.m., turnout was 11.7 percent, with 8,812 votes cast, Newby said.
He said turnout in a presidential year usually runs 15 to 20 percent, and he is confident Wyandotte County will make it to about 18 percent, though he doesn’t know if it will go to 20 percent.
Although Wyandotte County is under a heat advisory, with the heat index at 100 degrees at 4 p.m., Newby said it didn’t seem to be affecting voter turnout yet.
Another 3,710 votes were either provisional or in advance by mail, he added. Voters have until 7 p.m. tonight to take mail ballots into the Election Commission office at 850 State Ave.
Turnout at many polling places throughout the city was high today.
For example, he said turnout by around 4:15 p.m. was 252 at Argentine Community Center; 192 at Bonner Springs YMCA; 286 at Eisenhower Recreation Center; 401 at Haven Baptist Church; 286 at K-State Research and Extension Office; 262 at Kane Community Center in Piper; 246 at London Heights Baptist Church; 407 at Oak Ridge Missionary Baptist Church; 364 at Open Door Baptist Church; 275 at Parkway Baptist Church; 322 at Quindaro Community Center; 356 at Rainbow Mennonite Church; 300 at Risen Lamb Church of the Nazarene; 223 at Stony Point Christian Church; 250 at Sunset Hills Christian Church; and 406 at Trinity Community Church.
There were no big happenings involving the polls today, he said, just the usual small things, including getting some polling places started. Most of the small problems are being resolved within 10 to 15 minutes of the time they are reported to the election office, he said.
There were a couple cases of people standing too close to the 250-foot boundary of the polling place, handing out campaign literature, he added. There is a state law preventing campaigning or signs within 250 feet of the polling place.
Newby said this year, 926 people voted in advance at the election office at 9th and State, while 359 voted in advance at the transit center at Indian Springs.