In just seven days, as election anxiety reaches its peak, results will begin to come in and we will finally know — or at least begin to know who the victors are.
In those highly anticipated hours after polls close and vote tallies start to trickle in, results of the presidential contest and statewide races will be available from a variety of election offices and news outlets.
But if you want to know how Johnson County voted for those offices and for other local contests for state legislators, county commissioners, state board of education, sheriff and district attorney, here are a few things you need to know.
Where to find results
The results will be posted in batches to the homepage of the Johnson County Election Office’s website.
Look for a link to results to appear prominently on the home page on Election Night.
The first batch of results is planned to be released around 7:30 p.m. and will include advance voting ballots cast in person and by mail.
Those first results could be posted later, however, if people are still standing in line at polling places when polls close at 7 p.m. Election Commissioner Fred Sherman said he will not post results while people are still in line waiting to vote.
The “refresh” button is your friend here, but don’t break it. The link will eventually appear to a PDF file of all of the first batch of unofficial partial results.
Subsequent batches will come after that, at around 8 p.m., with Sherman hopeful the last batch of the night will be posted by 9 p.m.
Turnout and early voting
On the first day of advance voting this year, 14,690 ballots were cast. That’s about twice as many was were cast on the first day of the previous presidential cycle in 2020.
Sherman said he expects turnout in Johnson County this year to be about the same if not a little bit higher than four years ago, when 350,750 ballots were cast in all.
But the way people are voting has changed a bit.
In 2020 — at the height of the COVID pandemic — about 150,000 votes were made by mail. This year Sherman said he expects the mailed ballot count to be closer to 50,000.
Still, advance voting has been strong this year and Sherman anticipates more than 200,000 votes overall may be cast early.
If those estimates hold true, roughly 100,000 people will vote on Election Day, “and that’s a comfortable number for me,” Sherman said. “I think we will be okay.”
Remember, Election Night results are unofficial
Assuming no major hiccups, Wednesday, Nov. 6, will dawn with the county election page showing a link to “unofficial final results.”
The operative word here is “unofficial.” For the results to become “official,” there are a few more steps.
The vote count must be certified by the County Commission, acting as the Board of Canvassers. This is a chance to officially count (or not count) ballots that were cast provisionally in instances where there was some problem with an individual voter.
This would include, for example, ballots sent in without signatures, people who voted at the wrong precinct polling place and mailed ballots received during the three-day grace period after the polls closed (more on that later).
How does certification work?
The official certification process begins at 9 a.m., Nov. 15, at the Johnson County Election Office, 2101 East Kansas City Rd., in Olathe.
During the first meeting, Sherman will present the number of provisional ballots, the reasons behind why they were cast and a recommendation whether to count or not count them according to state law.
County commissioners review the provisional ballots and vote on the recommendation and adjourn until a second session.
In the second part of certification, the final count including the formerly questioned ballots will be announced. The commissioners will then vote whether to certify it as the final official results.
The second certification meeting starts at 4 p.m., Nov. 18, at the county election office. Both sessions are open to the public.
There will also be a post-election audit of some ballots
In the meantime, a state-required post-election audit will have taken place.
Kansas requires a manual audit of 1% of the county’s precincts at least 48 hours before the canvassing board’s meeting.
The state requirement is for 1% of the county’s 580 precincts — totaling six precincts — to be counted by trained, bipartisan auditors.
The precincts are chosen randomly, but in this presidential election year, state law also requires the random selection to include one federal, one state legislative and one county contest.
If there’s a discrepancy between the audited results and the unofficial final results that can’t be explained, more precincts may be audited.
Voting in person reminders
Double check that you are going to the correct precinct polling place. It will save you from having to cast a provisional ballot.
Only 16 of the 18 advance voting sites will be open for precinct voting, but they may not be the correct precinct for your address. Check here to find your polling place.
Be on time. The polls close on Election Day at 7 p.m. (Not sure about your clock? Call U.S. Naval Observatory’s atomic “Master Clock” 202-762-1401.)
Poll workers will lock the doors at 7 p.m. if there is no line out the door.
If there is a line and you get into it by then, you can vote as usual. If not, yours will be a provisional ballot marked with tardiness as the reason. An election worker will go out and mark the end of the line at 7 p.m.
Dropboxes and mailing in ballots
The same procedure is in place if there is a line of cars at the drop box, Sherman said.
Two election workers (one from each party) will be on hand as the window closes for drop box drop offs.
Also, Tuesday Oct. 29, is the last day to request a mail-in ballot.
If you already have one but haven’t yet mailed it, Sherman’s advice is to take it to the post office counter and ask that it be postmarked in front of you.
Due to ongoing delays with U.S. Postal Service deliveries, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab has urged voters to mail advanced ballots no later than Friday, Nov. 1.
A mailed ballot must arrive at the election office by Friday, Nov. 8, to be counted, but it must also have a postmark by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov 5.
In the August primary, eighteen ballots in Johnson County arrived without a postmark, Sherman said, and had to be discarded.
