October 17, 2008
Just a reminder the last day to register to vote in Kansas is [Monday, Oct. 20][1]!You two options for Advance Voting in Kansas, by mail or in-person. [KSA 25-1122] If you want to try to avoid the lines*, or if you just don't want to wait till Election Day to cast your ballot then Advance Voting is for you. I want to take a few moments to talk about each option.By Mail- Since 1995 Kansas has been a "no-excuse absentee state. This basically means that you don't have to have a "valid" reason in order to be able to request or participate in advance voting. In other words, in Kansas anyone can request to become an absentee voter without qualifying it with a valid reason. Missouri is an excuse absentee state. In Missouri you have to have a "valid" reason to request to become an absentee voter and you have to have your application notarized. I think a lot of people in Kansas are confused by the Missouri laws because _ everyone_ who calls me to request to become an absentee voter goes into very specific details explaining how they will be out of town for the entire month prior to the election. I find this hard to believe, or maybe I am just in the wrong profession. In Kansas you just need to submit an application requesting an Advance Ballot for each election that you want to receive your ballot via the mail. Applications can be found at our website [www.douglascountyelections.com][2] on the election links look for Advance Voting. You can print off an application, complete it and then send it to our office via: mail, fax or as an email attachment. By law we cannot mail the ballots until 20 days prior to an election. [KSA 25-1123(a)] This year they will be mailed on Wednesday, October 20th. Your ballot has to be back into our office by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. DO NOT drop off your ballot at a polling location. By law the last day to apply for an advance ballot is the Friday prior to an election. Don't wait that long. Even though the law allows you to send it on the Friday before, it doesn't mean we have time to process it, mail it, and for a voter to return it by the deadline of Election Day.From the Kansas Elections Standards, "If a voter has been sent an advance ballot before the election but has not returned it to the election office and wishes to vote at the precinct on Election Day, the voter may return the advance ballot to the polling place and vote a provisional ballot. The election board voids the advance ballot. The voter should be allowed to vote a provisional ballot even if the voter fails to return the advance ballot. If the county election officer determines after the election that the voter did not vote another ballot at that election, the provisional ballot should be counted. [KSA 25-2908(c)]"In-Person- In-Person Advance, by law, can begin up to 20 days prior to each election. Each county has a choice of when In-Person Advance starts. In Douglas County we begin on the first day allowed, the 20th day prior to an election. Other counties* begin on different days. Show up at an In-Person site, fill out an application, and vote. It is just that simple. In the past In-Person was restricted, by law, to only be allowed in the County Election Office at 1100 Massachusetts. This year the Kansas Legislature, after a 3 year battle, passed a law allowing the option of Satellite In-Person Advance Voting for every county in Kansas. In other words, we can designate other locations through out the county as In-Pearson Advance sites. I love this concept and our office testified every year in favor of changing the law to allow it. I know it will grow to be bigger and better thing in the future, but trying to roll this out, for the first time on a Presidential Election year, is a bit daunting. With that being said here are the locations and time of In-Person Advance voting.Douglas County Clerks Office: 10-15 thru 10-17 8:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. 10-20 thru 10-24 8:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. 10-25 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. 10-27 thru 10-31 8:00 a.m. till 7:00 p.m. 11-1 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. 11-3 8:00 a.m. till Noon (By law it ends at this time)Baldwin City Library 10-25 and 11-1 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m.Eudora City Clerk's Office 10-25 and 11-1 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m.Lecompton City Clerk's Office 10-25 and 11-1 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. * I think we will have an 80% turnout. The ballot is a long ballot with a lot of candidates and questions. If you go to the polls during busy hours: 7:00 a.m-9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. you should expect that there will be lines. If you go to the polls during those times, please be patient. We are doing all we can to minimize the lines, but there is only so much that we can do. * Absentee and Advance are the same thing. * * Address: County Clerk's Office, 1100 Massachusetts, Lawrence, KS 66044 * Fax: 785-832-5192 * Email: kcampbell@douglas-county.com * Johnson County, for instance, starts In-Person 14 days prior to the election. [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/events/2008/oct/20/32080/ [2]: http://www.douglascountyelections.com
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alm77 (anonymous) says...
I've got this idea in my head that our whole family is going to go vote first thing in the morning at the polls as part of the "history making experience" and then go out for breakfast then send the kids off to school. However, I am afraid that my whole plan is going to flop when I have 3 kids standing in line for 4 hours on hungry bellies....
October 18, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )