by Mary Rupert
Election turnout was about 12 percent around 4 p.m., according to Election Commissioner Bruce Newby.
He said total average turnout for an election is around 15 percent, so turnout today may reach that level with still three hours left to vote.
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, throughout Wyandotte County for the general election. Voters need to bring their photo identification to the polls. For information on where to vote, visit www.wycovotes.org.
Newby said he had received some complaints from voters today about campaign signs.
He said a deputy has been assigned today to enforce a law that prohibits signs closer than 250 feet to a polling place. That is 250 feet from the door of the polling place to the sign.
While a lot of people think they can “guesstimate” 250 feet, a lot of them have been wrong today, he said. The sheriff’s deputy is measuring sign distance with a tape measure in some cases. For example, one sign was measured after a complaint at the polling place at Open Door Baptist Church, near 103rd Terrace and Leavenworth Road, and was found to be 263 feet away from the entrance, which was legal, he said.
There was another complaint about a sign that was near Risen Lamb Church polling place near 53rd and Metropolitan, he added.
Today’s enforcement only concerns the distance of the sign from the polling place, he added, as that issue is covered by the election laws. The deputy was not assigned to enforce any other provisions in local ordinances concerning signs in the right of way, since that was not in the election law, he added.
For a list of candidates in the election, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/voters-to-go-to-polls-tuesday/.