About 29,934 ballots have been cast or returned in Wyandotte County, as of Thursday, Oct. 29, according to Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Bruce Newby.
Of the 23,544 ballots issued by mail, 18,008 have been returned, he stated. That is 76 percent of those sent out.
For early in-person voting, there have been a total of 11,926 people who voted. Of those, 4,266 voted at the Election Office, 2,110 at the Amayo-Argentine Community Center and 5,550 at the Eisenhower Recreation Center.
According to the election commissioner, they are not differentiating between ballots returned by mail, through drop boxes or delivered in person.
Although there is a drop box at the Election Office, many voters have bypassed it and brought their ballots inside, he stated. The capacity of the drop boxes has been more than adequate, according to the election commissioner.
Local Democratic leaders have said that provisional ballots were not available earlier at the Eisenhower and Amayo – Argentine Center locations. A Democratic leader said people who had been turned away earlier could go back to vote a provisional ballot.
Newby stated that the provisional ballot voting is currently available at the Election Office and both satellite locations.
At the satellite locations, provisional voters are marking a ballot using the touchscreen, which prints a paper ballot, according to the election commissioner. That ballot goes into a provisional ballot envelope.
Election Day voting in person will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at the voter’s assigned polling place.
Advance voting will continue on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the three advance voting sites, and also on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Election Office, 850 State Ave.
The three locations and their remaining hours include:
• Election Office, 850 State Ave., early voting hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 30; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31; and 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 2.
• Joe Amayo-Argentine Community Center, 2810 Metropolitan Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, early voting hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 30; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
• Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas, early voting hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 30; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Those voters who have already received a mail-in ballot should not vote in person, but they can bring their completed mail-in ballots to the early voting centers and drop them off there while the centers are open.
They also can mail the completed ballots back to the Election Office, making sure they are postmarked on or before Nov. 3.
They can also drop off completed mail-in ballots at drop boxes at the Election Office, 850 State; at Kansas City, Kansas, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St.; at the West Wyandotte Library, 1737 N. 82nd St.; at Bonner Springs City Library, 201 N. Nettleton Ave., Bonner Springs; and at Edwardsville City Hall, 690 S. 4th St., Edwardsville.
For more information, visit www.wycovotes.org.
Earlier stories about the election are at https://wyandotteonline.com/category/election-2020/.