Sedgwick County Election Office moves from downtown to northeast Wichita

As Sedgwick County moves into its new election office near 37th North and Rock, county commissioners are already discussing a potential satellite location in a more central location.

The election office will open for business at its new location, 3635 N. Comotara, on Friday.

The move comes as the state-mandated filing deadline for this year’s midterm elections nears on June 1.

Some commissioners said at Wednesday’s meeting that they have already received complaints from residents and local elected officials about the new location.

“Some of the feedback I’m getting is from some of the small town mayors and council members; ‘Hey, we’re struggling to get people to even file for these positions, we’re struggling to get people engaged.’ It’s just one more obstacle to be a part of it,” Commission Chair Jeff Blubaugh said. “I don’t see it as a good long-term plan having it over there on the far east into the county.”

The county commission approved purchasing the former Walton’s building 4-1 in 2024 for $4.5 million – although the original budget for the move was $3 million in 2018.

The total project budget, after remodeling the building and adding security upgrades, is $5,884,428.

Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater said a new, larger location was needed as it outgrew its combined 18,890 square feet of office and warehouse space.

The Walton’s building will provide 46,613 square feet of combined office and warehouse space, 128 parking spaces and four loading docks.

Commissioners said the new building “checked all the boxes” except for location.

“The body of the commission liked that building, they liked the price of that building, the accessibility of that building through the highway system and the (Wichita) Transit ability to put buses close to that location and thus made that choice for that particular building,” County Manager Tom Stolz said.

“I agree it’s not in the geographic center of the county, but it was a building that was available, met the needs… and that’s what the commission went with three, four years ago.”

While the new location opens Friday, some remodeling and moving of voting equipment to the new location won’t be completed until late November, according to a county release.

When the commission approved the purchase in 2024, Rainwater told the commission she planned to open a satellite early voting office downtown and in west Wichita during the same early voting timeframe.