Monday’s Day 1 to vote for City Council, school board. Here’s how.
Early voting in person for City Council and school board races starts Monday. And this time, almost everyone in Sedgwick County has something to vote on.
The voting kicks off at 8 a.m. Monday with the opening of the advance ballot site at the Sedgwick County Election office, in the historic county courthouse at 516 N. Main, Wichita.
Fifteen satellite voting sites around the county will be open Nov. 2, 3 and 4.
The official election Day is Nov. 7.
Many county voters sat out the August primary because they lived in areas where there weren’t any races on the ballot.
Out of the nearly 300,000 voters in Sedgwick County, only a tiny fraction won’t have a ballot for this election. The only voters out this time around live in the unincorporated county and in districts one and two of the Circle school district.
The reason there are so many more eligible voters this time is because of a quirk in the way Wichita’s USD 259 school district elects its board members.
School board primaries are carved into geographic districts, meaning you don’t vote unless you live in one of the districts where a seat is up for grabs.
However, that changes with the November general election. All residents of USD 259 get to vote on all the open seats, said Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman.
The Wichita school board race has four seats up for grabs: District 1 with candidates Betty Arnold and Ben Blankley; District 2 with Julie Hedrick, Trish Hileman and Debra Washington; District 5 with Peter Grant and Mike Rodee; and District 6 with Walt Chappell, Shirley Jefferson and Ron Rosales.
Three Wichita City Council Districts 1, 3 and 6, will each have two candidates matched up on the general election ballot.
In District 1, activist Brandon Johnson and former Wichita school board member Mike Kinard were the survivors of a four-candidate primary and they’ll face off against each other for the council seat.
District 3 matches incumbent James Clendenin against challenger William Stofer.
In District 6, park board chairwoman Cindy Claycomb and council critic Sybil Strum are on the ballot, although Strum is not actively campaigning and has announced her withdrawal from the campaign.
Dion Lefler: 316-268-6527, @DionKansas
Vote early for city and school elections
Advance voting for the Nov. 7 city and school board elections begins Monday in Sedgwick County.
Voters from throughout the county will be able to cast their early ballots at the election office during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 3. Voting will also be allowed at that location 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 6.
The election office is in the historic county courthouse at 516 N. Main, Wichita.
In addition, 15 satellite advance voting sites around Sedgwick County will be open noon to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2 and 3, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 4.
Here is a list of those satellite sites:
Advance voting site | Address | City |
Grace Presbyterian Church | 5002 E. Douglas Ave. | Wichita |
Greenwich Road Church of Christ | 1746 S. Greenwich Rd. | Wichita |
Independent Living Center | 3033 W. 2nd St. N. | Wichita |
Machinists Building | 3830 S. Meridian Ave. | Wichita |
Progressive Missionary Baptist Church | 2727 E. 25th St. N. | Wichita |
Reformation Lutheran Church | 7601 E. 13th St. N. | Wichita |
Sedgwick County Extension Office | 7001 W. 21st St. N. | Wichita |
Sharon Baptist Church | 2221 S. Oliver | Wichita |
St. Andrew's Lutheran Church | 2555 Hyacinth Ln. | Wichita |
Westlink Church of Christ | 10025 W. Central Ave. | Wichita |
Valley Center Christian Church | 1801 E. Fifth | Valley Center |
Haysville Community Library | 210 Hays Ave. | Haysville |
Goddard Pathway Church | 18800 W. Kellogg Dr. | Goddard |
Woodlawn United Methodist Church | 431 S. Woodlawn Blvd. | Derby |
Bel Aire City Building | 7651 E. Central Park | Bel Aire |
This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Monday’s Day 1 to vote for City Council, school board. Here’s how.."