Note: This story from July 27 is being republished, with information about early voting at the end.
by Mary Rupert
Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Bruce Newby is estimating a 15 percent to 18 percent turnout for Wyandotte County in the Aug. 7 primary election.
Newby said 15 percent would equal 12,135 voters out of the 80,897 registered voters in the county.
Advance voting starts on Tuesday, July 31, in Wyandotte County, with the election office at 850 State Ave. Two satellite locations will open Aug. 1, he said. Locations are at the end of this story.
About 1,000 ballots have already been cast in Wyandotte County through mail voting, he said.
Newby said he has seen some voter registration efforts here, although it hasn’t been overwhelming. The voter registration deadline passed on July 17 and the books have closed until after the primary election, when they will reopen for the November election.
A change this year was a judicial ruling before the closing of the voter registration deadline that said proof of citizenship was no longer required for voter registration. That also will apply to voter registration for the general election, when the books reopen after the primary, he said. Voter registration may be submitted now but will not be entered into the system until after the primary, he added.
Johnson County starts advance voting earlier than Wyandotte County
Those who follow the elections in both Johnson and Wyandotte counties will notice that Johnson County started advance voting on July 23, and some 3rd District Congressional candidates have been talking about getting out the vote in Johnson County.
Newby said he did not start advance voting until Tuesday, July 31, in Wyandotte County because it is based on the projected turnout.
In previous elections where there were two weeks of voting here, often there were more people working as election workers during the first week than people who showed up to vote, Newby said.
“It’s just not cost-effective, so I don’t do it,” he said. “The general election I will, it’s a different beast.”
Johnson County has about four times more population and voters than Wyandotte County, Newby said, and it makes sense to offer more advance voting days there.
Several contested races this year
On both the Democratic and Republican ballots, there are some contested races with many choices this year.
The U.S. House, 3rd District, contest has attracted many candidates, including a number of Democrats and Republicans.
The six Democratic candidates for 3rd District are Sharice Davids, Mike McCamon, Tom Niermann, Jay Sidie, Brent Welder and Sylvia D. Williams.
The three Republican candidates for 3rd District are Trevor Keegan, Joe Myers and incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder.
The Kansas governor’s race also presents many choices for voters.
There are five Democratic candidates for governor, and seven Republican candidates. Each has a lieutenant governor running mate.
The Democratic candidates for governor are Arden Andersen, Jack Bergeson, Carl Brewer, Laura Kelly and Joshua Svaty.
The Republican candidates for governor are Jim Barnett, incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer, Kris Kobach, Patrick “PK” Kucera, Tyler Ruzich, Ken Selzer and Joseph Tutera Jr.
In the Kansas secretary of state contest, there is one Democratic candidate, Brian “BAM” McClendon.
There are five Republican candidates for secretary of state on the ballot, Randy Duncan, Keith Esau, Craig McCullah, Scott Schwab and Dennis Taylor.
Only one Democrat and one Republican are running for each of the attorney general and state treasurer positions.
Nathaniel McLaughlin, a Wyandotte County Democrat, is running for the Democratic nomination for commissioner of insurance, and is the only one for that position on the Democratic ballot.
Two Republicans, Vicki Schmidt and Clark Shultz, also are running for commissioner of insurance.
On the Democratic ballot, three Wyandotte County candidates, Tony Martinez, Mike Nichols and Jane Sieve Wilson, are running for the open Wyandotte County judge, position 5.
The primary is a party election, with registered Democrats voting on the Democratic ballot and registered Republicans voting on the Republican ballot, Newby said. Those who are unaffiliated may declare a party on Election Day and vote that party’s ballot. Those who are registered Libertarians cannot change parties on Election Day, he said. Kansas law doesn’t currently allow a change at the polls for those who are registered to a party; that change has to be made before the voter registration deadline.
The nonpartisan part of the ballot will be the three-eighths cent sales tax renewal question, on which all Kansas City, Kansas, voters may cast a vote, he added. He has a ballot for those who are either Libertarian or unaffiliated voters who don’t want to change parties, with the sales tax question only, he said.
The sales tax renewal will go toward public safety, including police, fire and infrastructure needs such as roads and sidewalks. The Unified Government’s leaders have said that since it is a renewal of an existing tax that residents are already paying, it will not cause residents’ tax bills to increase.
The three-eighths cent sales tax renewal is only for Kansas City, Kansas, voters, not for Edwardsville or Bonner Springs voters, Newby said. On the paper ballot, it will be on the back, he said, so voters should remember to turn the ballot over to vote.
Election Day hours
Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Aug. 7. To find out information about your polling place, visit www.wycovotes.org. The Voter View feature at https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/ includes the location of individual polling places.
Voting by mail
Mail ballots are also available for the primary election, Newby said.
“We’ve received and issued over 4,000 ballots,” Newby said. “One thousand of those have already come back.”
He is encouraging voters to send back their mail ballots early.
He said residents may still apply to vote by mail; the application goes through July 31. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is July 31.
For those who vote by mail, as long as the ballot is postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day, it’s accepted, Newby said. The ballot has to be received in the mail by Friday, he added.
“People shouldn’t wait until the last day,” Newby advised. “As long as it’s postmarked by Aug. 7 and we receive it by Friday, it’s OK.”
If people decide to hand-deliver their mail ballots themselves to the election office, they have to be turned in by 7 p.m. Aug. 7, he added.
The extension to receive the ballot in the mail by the Friday following the election is a change passed by the Legislature recently. It is unknown how it will affect the unofficial totals on election night.
In the past, the unofficial totals on election night did not include the provisional ballots, Newby said. Now they don’t include the provisional ballots and those that are postmarked on Election Day, he added.
An application for an advance voting ballot by mail is at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56606b47e4b0b9403ad6ff96/t/596cf4df3e00be9597a15bee/1500312799314/AV1wc_Mail_2017.pdf.
More information is at http://wycovotes.org/voting-by-mail.
Locations and hours of advance voting in person
Newby said the locations of the two satellite election voting sites have changed this year. The Kansas Speedway location was not available this year, and neither was the Argentine Recreation Center, he said.
The two new advance voting sites are the South Patrol police station at 2100 Metropolitan Ave. and the Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas.
In-person early voting is taking place at:
• Election Office, 850 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 31 through Aug. 3; from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4; and from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Aug. 6.
• KCKPD South Patrol station, 2100 Metropolitan Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 1 through Aug. 3; and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4.
• Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., Kansas City, Kansas, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 1 through Aug. 3, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4.
For more information, visit http://wycovotes.org/august-7-2018-primary-election/.
The Wyandotte County Election Office phone number is 913-573-8500, and its email is [email protected].
Election stories in the Wyandotte Daily are found under the “Election 2018” tab at https://wyandotteonline.com/category/election-2018/.
