Around 1.6% of Lawrence voters have cast their ballots early thus far in the 2025 city primary election, and mail-in ballots have been arriving on time.
Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said 583 in-person ballots had been cast in Lawrence as of Thursday afternoon. Approximately 430 advance ballots have been returned out of around 1,400 that his office dispersed.
Shew said in-person early voting is currently running slightly ahead of Lawrence primaries in previous years. It’s “not a lot, but a little bit” of an increase, he said.
That totals a little more than 1,000 ballots cast thus far out of the around 61,950 registered voters in Lawrence. Local primary elections often have low voter turnout, but generally end up around 10% of registered voters.
The names of 13 candidates running for Lawrence City Commission appear on the primary ballot, and voters can select up to two candidates. The top four vote recipients in the primary will advance to the Nov. 5 general election. Not enough people filed to run for Lawrence school board to make a primary necessary in that race, but three school board seats will be up for election in November.
In the August 2024 primary election, more than 200 mail-in ballots from Douglas County — and approximately 1,000 statewide — were not counted. The Kansas City postal service had experienced delays and processing issues. Shew said he sees improvements this year.
“I was kind of interested to see — because last year, supposedly the post office was, you know, all hands on deck because it was a presidential election — so I wondered if it would actually be slower,” Shew said. “But they actually seem to be moving better than they did last year.”
However, anyone who still has their advance ballot is encouraged to drop it off at a dropbox instead of mailing it to ensure it arrives on time. Advance ballots can also be returned to any polling location on Election Day.
Dropbox locations in Lawrence include:
• Douglas County Elections Office, 711 W. 23rd St. (in the strip on the southwest corner of 23rd and Louisiana streets)
• Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. in downtown Lawrence
• Douglas County Treasurer, 2601 W. Sixth St. (between Crestline Drive and Schwarz Road on the south side of Sixth Street)
Voters can still cast their ballots early in person at the Douglas County Elections office, 711 W. 23rd St. —
• 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1;
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2; and
• 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 4, the final Monday before the election.
Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on primary Election Day, which is Tuesday, Aug. 5.
Voters must present a valid photo ID to cast their ballots in person. If you are in line to vote by 7 p.m., you will be allowed to cast your ballot.
If you need to check on your voter registration or find your polling place, visit myvoteinfo.voteks.org.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More coverage: Election 2025
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