Primary election turnout so far in Wyandotte County has been smooth and steady, according to Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Michael Abbott.
He estimated the voter turnout at about 11 percent around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Today’s primary includes some high-interest contests, including mayor and Wyandotte County Sheriff.
So far, there were about 3,000 mail ballots that have been returned, and about 5,000 people have gone out to vote today, he said.
Voters have until 7 p.m. to cast a ballot in the primary at their polling places. They also have until 7 p.m. to return their mail ballots to the ballot drop boxes, to polling places or to the Election Office at 850 State. If in the mail, they need a postmark before 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The turnout seems to be better than the local primary in 2015, when there was a 9.8 percent turnout, Abbott said.
In 2017, there was a mayoral race similar to this election, and turnout was 17.8 percent, he said. Turnout today could end up around 15 to 16 percent based on how it’s gone so far.
In 2019, a local election where there wasn’t a mayoral race, turnout was around 9.6 percent, and there wasn’t a countywide race on that ballot, he added.
The election so far has been pretty calm, he said. They had to have a campaign sign removed that was within 250 feet of the polling place at Rainbow Mennonite Church this morning, Abbott said. He added he did not know the name of the candidate. They called the Sheriff’s Office to remove the sign, he added.
Voter turnout appeared to be heavier so far on the west side of Wyandotte County, which is frequently the case, he said.
For example, a polling place at Haven Baptist Church, 3430 Hutton Road, had more than 500 voters, while the Joe Amayo Argentine Community Center , 2810 Metropolitan Ave., polling place had 122 voters, he said.