First day voting up 44% – 12 more people voted
Voting on the first day of the Sedgwick County city and school board races is up this year.
By a lot?
Well, that kind of depends on how you count it.
By percentage, first-day voting was up 44 percent compared to the last comparable election four years ago.
But it only took 11 more voters to accomplish that.
The election office, the only location open for voting so far, saw 36 voters cast their ballots Monday. That was up from 25 in 2013, according to Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman.
Not a lot more voters, but any increase is a good increase, Lehman said.
“Every election I’d like to see significantly higher turnout,” she said. “But I’m pleased to see it was higher than it has been in the past.”
This is the first local general election since the state Legislature moved city and school votes from the spring to the fall in a bid to generate higher turnout.
Among the first-day voters was Sedgwick County Commissioner and former state Sen. Michael O’Donnell, AKA voter No. 35.
“I got the Twitter notification that early voting started today,” said O’Donnell, who cast his ballot about 4:30 p.m. “I was excited about getting it taken care of so soon.”
Despite the lack of major state or federal offices on the ballot, it’s still an important election, especially the race for Wichita school board, O’Donnell said.
While O’Donnell was a senator, the Legislature and the Wichita district were adversaries in a long-running school finance court case.
Early this month, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature is failing to meet its constitutional burden to provide adequate and fair funding for public education. The court gave lawmakers until June 30 to craft a school finance plan and get court approval.
With all that going on, “we definitely need a quality school board,” O’Donnell said.
Voting continues 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at the election office, in the historic county courthouse at 510 N. Main, Wichita.
Fifteen more advance voting sites around the county will open on Nov. 2.
Dion Lefler: 316-268-6527, @DionKansas
Vote early for city and school elections
Advance voting for the Nov. 7 city and school board elections began 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. today through Oct.-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.
The following 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 6:27 PM with the headline "First day voting up 44% – 12 more people voted."