The days are dwindling until Tuesday, Nov. 5, when many important local and national offices will be decided. Here’s how to cast your ballot early or on Election Day.
The Douglas County district attorney seat and four of five Douglas County Commission seats are on the ballot. All Kansas Legislature seats are up for election this year. There are also two big ballot questions for Lawrence voters: one on the city’s form of government, and one on an affordable housing sales tax increase.
Meet the candidates, read about the stances they’ve shared and more in our complete 2024 election guide at this link. See additional coverage and watch or listen to candidate forum recordings at lawrencekstimes.com/election2024.
See our YouTube playlist of candidate forum recordings at this link or by visiting our YouTube channel, youtube.com/@LawrenceKSTimes.
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Vote by advance ballot
Based on mail delivery times the elections office is seeing, voters who want to cast their vote by mailing their advance ballot should have already dropped them in the mail, Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said Tuesday. (Read more in this article.) Ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day, Nov. 5, and received at the elections office by Friday, Nov. 8 to be counted.
Shew said his office strongly recommends people drop their ballots off at one of the advance voting sites (see below), at the elections office or at a secure dropbox “to really guarantee receipt of the ballot.”
For the Aug. 6 primary election, more than 200 ballots mailed from Douglas County voters were not counted because they arrived at the elections office after the cutoff date. That was because of issues with the Kansas City post office. (Read a full article about that at this link.)
Ballot dropboxes can be found at the following locations:
• Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., Lawrence
• Douglas County Clerk and Elections Office, 711 W. 23rd St., Lawrence
• Treasurer Satellite-South Lawrence Office, 2000 W. 31st St., Lawrence (this dropbox location will not change despite the treasurer’s office’s planned move)
• Douglas County Fairgrounds – Flory Meeting Hall, 2120 Harper St., Lawrence
• Golf Course Superintendents Building, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence
• Baldwin City Hall, 803 Eighth St., Baldwin City
• Eudora City Hall, 4 E. Seventh St., Eudora
• Lecompton City Hall, 327 Elmore St., Lecompton
Dropboxes will be locked at 7 p.m. on Election Day.
You can also take your advance ballot to any polling place on Election Day.
Douglas County has ways for voters to track their ballots and sign up for notifications to ensure they are delivered and counted. Follow the “Track your ballot” link on this page to sign up.
Voters whose ballots are delayed can fill out provisional ballots in case their mailed ballot is not received in time. Learn more about that at this link.
The final day to request a mail ballot was Tuesday, Oct. 29.
Vote early in person
There are some extra opportunities and locations available to vote in person ahead of this big election.
You will need a valid ID to cast your ballot in person. (See a list of acceptable forms of ID at this link.)
Weekday early voting:
Voters may cast their ballots in person from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. now through Friday, Nov. 1 at the county elections office, 711 W. 23rd St., Suite 1 in Lawrence. That’s on the southwest side of the intersection at 23rd and Louisiana streets. (Click here for a map.)
Voters may also vote at the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2120 Harper St., or at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 5700 W. Sixth St., from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. now through Friday, Nov. 1.
Voting will also be available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31 and Friday, Nov. 1 at the Lied Center Pavilion, 1600 Stewart Drive.
The final opportunity to vote early in person will be from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 4 at the elections office. Polls must close at noon Monday under state law.
Saturday voting:
Early voting will also be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.
It will also be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Lecompton Community Building, Eudora City Hall and Baldwin City Library.
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Vote on Election Day
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. As long as you’re in line to vote by 7 p.m., you will be allowed to cast your ballot.
Voters will need to report to their assigned polling places to vote on Election Day. Find out where to go by inputting your information or searching for an address at myvoteinfo.voteks.org/voterview.
You will need a driver’s license or valid ID to cast your ballot in person.
Trouble at the polls? Contact the ACLU election protection hotline.
(That’s 866-687-8683 for English; 888-839-8682 for Spanish; 888-274-8683 for Asian languages; and 844-925-5287 for Arabic.)
Voter registration
Tuesday, Oct. 15 was the last day to register in order to vote in the general election coming up Tuesday, Nov. 5.
See more information about voter registration in this article. Learn more about voting rights and eligibility from the ACLU’s guide.
Find more information about voting in Douglas County on the county’s website. If you have questions, you can email elections@douglascountyks.org or call 785-832-5267.
Note: The bulk of this post was originally published on Oct. 20. We’ve updated it and we’re republishing to make sure voters get the most current, accurate info. See more election coverage at the links below.
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This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
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