Based on mail delivery times the elections office is seeing, voters who want to cast their vote by mailing their advance ballot should have them in the mail “by today,” Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said Tuesday.
Shew said his office strongly recommends people drop their ballots off at one of the advance voting sites, at the elections office or at a secure dropbox “to really guarantee receipt of the ballot.”
That means anyone who has yet to request an advance ballot — which can be done through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29 via KSVotes.org — should definitely plan to deliver their ballot rather than mailing them back.
Mailed ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day — Tuesday, Nov. 5 — and they must be received at the elections office within three days, so by Friday, Nov. 8.
The U.S. Postal Service announced in a news release Monday that the service is “deploying extraordinary measures in the final weeks of the election season to swiftly move Ballot Mail entered close to or on Election Day and/or the state’s return deadline.” The post office says that “Our recommendation remains for voters who choose to mail in their ballots to do so before Election Day and at least a week before their election office needs to receive them.”
In 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.)
Shew said last week that they have set up a system that gives his office the ability to find ballots that are getting multiple scans in Kansas City, and when that’s identified, they notify the post office. But to be safe, ballots should be mailed by Tuesday (Oct. 29) or delivered to a dropbox.
Dropboxes will be open until 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, and they 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 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
Voters can also take their advance ballot to any polling place on Election Day. See a map of polling places at this link.
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.
See complete hours and locations for in-person early voting in this article. You will need a driver’s license or valid ID to cast your ballot in person. (See a list of acceptable forms of ID at this link.)
Find more info about voting in Douglas County in our election guide linked below.
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Molly Adams / Lawrence TimesDouglas County clerk recommends mailing ballots ‘by today’ or hand-delivering to a ballot box
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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