Turnout for Wichita sales tax surges past voting for 2025 city and school election
Voter turnout against Wichita’s special sales tax election exceeded that of all voters in November’s general city and school election.
Total unofficial turnout for the special election was 50,334, with 41,097 ballots cast in opposition to the sales tax. Just under 39,000 people voted in city and school elections combined in November.
“We are seeing a much better turnout than we did in November for this election. That started from day one of early voting,” Laura Rainwater, the Sedgwick County election commissioner, said in an afternoon press conference at the Linwood Recreation Center. “We were seeing two to three times the number of voters coming through the polls versus November.”
Rainwater also said more people voted early and via mail-in for this special election than in the November general election, which is rare to see.
“I think it is attributed to how much press this special tax . . . has received,” Rainwater said earlier in the day at the Edgemoor Recreation Center as a steady flow of people came in to vote before starting their day.
Typically, special elections see anywhere between 7% to 12% turnout. As of 8:52 p.m., turnout was about 19.9%, not including provisional ballots.
“Issues really do matter, and voters are passionate about it,” Rainwater said. “It didn’t matter what party you were, they’re (Wichitans) passionate about taxes and their pocketbooks, so I think that’s what brought them out today.”
So far, Rainwater said it’s “been the smoothest election we’ve ever ran.” Aside from a jammed ballot machine or two, the only problem, she said, are some upset phone calls from Kansans with Wichita addresses who want to participate in the election but don’t live inside city limits.
After the polls closed Tuesday evening, Rainwater emphasized the importance of voter engagement, especially at the local level.
“Local elections matter so much. I would love if we saw this kind of turnout for every local election,” Rainwater said an at evening press conference. “The decisions that our leaders, our elected leaders, are making impact us daily, and voters need to be aware of that.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 10:16 AM.
