More than 9,000 Wyandotte County residents have applied for mail-in ballots for the primary election Aug. 4.
The Wyandotte County Election Office sent out a mailing to all households in the county that told of the mail ballot option, said Frances Sheppard, assistant county election commissioner.
The response, during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been huge. She said voters should get their request for a mail ballot in by July 28.
Sheppard said the election office will start mailing out the ballots on July 15. Overseas ballots, including ballots for members of the military service, were mailed on June 19.
The ballots have to be postmarked on or before Election Day and received no later than three days after the election. The advance ballots also can be dropped off in person by 7 p.m. on Election Day at the election office, 850 State Ave., or at a polling place.
While it appears there will be substantial voting by mail, voters still will be able to vote in person at their polling places from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day, Aug. 4, and also can vote in advance at satellite polling locations, according to Sheppard.
COVID-19 to change the look of polling places, with more distancing
“We’re taking extra precautions at polling sites,” Sheppard said.
There will be social distancing, along with markers on the floors, she said. There will be a limited number of people who can be inside the room at one time, she added.
They hope people will be able to get in and out quickly, and everyone who turns out to vote will be able to vote, she said. That’s why they’re also offering advance voting in person and by mail again this year, she said.
Advance in-person voting at the election office will start on July 21, she said. There will be three advance voting in-person sites, including the election office at 850 State Ave., the Joe Amayo Argentine Recreation Center, 2810 Metropolitan Ave., and the Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas.
Precautions in place to prevent fraud
There has been some speculation nationally that mail or advance ballots are not secure, however, Kansas has always offered the opportunity for advance ballots, Sheppard said. In the early 1990s voters had to have an excuse, a religious reason or going out of town, to get an advance ballot, but that law changed a long time ago, she said. No excuse is needed now, and any registered voter can get a mail-in ballot.
“It’s very safe, we’ve never had any problems,” she said. “There’s always checks and balances in Kansas.”
There are laws that are followed when handling the ballots, according to the election office. There also are laws in place to prosecute anyone attempting to commit a fraud. Photo ID, address and signature verification also may be used to detect fraud.
Candidates and political parties also may have poll watchers in the polling places, observing the election.
There also are procedures in place to prevent fraudulent ballots, including encoding ballots for each election. Copies will not work on voting machines. Also, the penalties for violations are felonies.
The mail-in ballots are counted after the polls close on election night by an election board, according to the election office. They are not counted when they come in – they are tabulated after the polls close Aug. 4. There is a separate set of voting machines, separate from those at the polling place, that is used to tabulate votes cast by mail and at the early voting sites.
Voter registration deadline is July 14
The voter registration deadline is coming up shortly, at the end of the business day on July 14, Sheppard said. To see if you are registered, go to Voter View online, which has a link on the wycovotes.org website, or call the Wyandotte County election office at 913-573-8500.
If not registered, Wyandotte County residents may fill out a voter registration form, and there is a link to it from the wycovotes.org website. Registration is currently by mail and online.
Federal and state candidates are on the ballot this year, including candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Kansas Senate, Kansas House, State Board of Education, District Court Judge, and Wyandotte County District Attorney.
In the primary election this year, voters must be either registered Democrats or registered Republicans, since it is a partisan primary.
Voter View, to find out if you are registered, where your polling place is, and what is on the ballot, is at https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/voterview.
A voter registration application is at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56606b47e4b0b9403ad6ff96/t/5c7030e21905f46c1410405f/1550856418896/2019+Voter+Registration+Application.pdf.
An advance voting ballot (by mail) application is at
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56606b47e4b0b9403ad6ff96/t/5e822b7a679da75b43a9fd29/1585589114506/AV1+Mail_2020+PRIMARY.pdf
A list of candidates on the ballot is at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56606b47e4b0b9403ad6ff96/t/5efcc1a5fcc25b263e161260/1593622949066/2020+Primary+Election+-+OFFICIAL+List+of+National++State+Candidates+for+Wyandotte+County.pdf.
More information is at www.wycovotes.org. Voters also may call the election office at 913-573-8500 or email [email protected].