Johnson Countians have hit the polls early this year, resulting in a turnout for the first day of advance midterm voting that approaches the first day in the 2024 presidential election year.

Figures posted on Facebook by the county election office showed 12,632 people voted on Saturday, which was the first day of in-person advance voting. Another 307 ballots came in by mail.

That’s more than double the last midterm general election in 2022, when 5,493 votes were recorded on the first day, and it is roughly 2,000 votes short of the about 14,600 votes recorded on the first day of advance voting in the most recent presidential election year, said Johnson County Election Commissioner Connie Schmidt.

According to the election office’s Facebook post, the majority of voters that first day – about 61.5% — were Democrats. Republicans made up about 26%, and unaffiliated were about 12%.

A demographic breakdown also showed that people from 41 to over 65 years old dominated the voting numbers, with about 80%. Of those, the 41- to 65-year-old age block was higher.

The election office will continue to post voting data on Facebook during the 14-day runup to the Nov. 3 election. Advance in-person polling takes place daily except for Sundays, at 12 locations from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2. The hours for all but Nov. 2, will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Nov. 2, hours will be 8 a.m. to noon.

Polling at the precincts will be in person on Election Day.

Advance voting by mail has also begun now that the first requested ballots have gone out. Because postal delivery times can vary, Schmidt advised voters who recently asked for a ballot to allow some time for it to arrive.

Once it’s filled out and signed, the election office has urged voters to drop it in one of the 16 drop boxes for a speedy return. The three-day grace period for ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 but arriving late remains in place for this election. Most drop boxes are at libraries and are open 24/7 until 7 p.m. on Election Day. Find a list of locations here.

Check on the status of your mailed ballot here.

With control of the U.S. House and Senate and a hotly contested Kansas Senate seat on the line, anticipation is running high on the outcome of the next two weeks. A poll by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Morning Consult taken in early September showed that although the majority of those polled remain confident the votes will be accurately counted and reported, there were still some concerns.

Members of both parties agreed about the dangers of artificial intelligence misinformation, for example, and a majority of both parties also worried about the results of a fair election being overturned.

Democrats generally worried more than Republicans about eligible voters being turned away, while Republicans were concerned that ineligible voters would have their ballots accepted, according to the poll.

With that in mind, some groups have put out resources, tools and reassurances for the voting public.

About two weeks ago, the American Civil Liberties Union sent an email to all Kansas county election officials announcing they would assign volunteers to voting locales in several counties. The volunteers will wear ID tags and offer non-partisan information or direct voters to concerns to a hotline. They would remain outside the active voting area, according to the email.

The assignments to voting locations were to be made in late October; an update from the ACLU indicates that it will have volunteers at Johnson County voting sites, but only on Election Day.

Several organizations point voters to hotlines if they are concerned about being denied a provisional ballot or feel they were intimidated at the polling sites. Election Protection, a non-partisan coalition focused on voting, has a suite of helplines in different languages for that purpose:

• English – 866-OUR-VOTE
• Spanish and English – 888-VE-Y-VOTA
• Arabic and English – 844-YALLA-US
• Asian languages and English – 888-API-VOTE

The Johnson County Democratic Party also has a hotline, in cooperation with the state party, said county party chair Deann Mitchell. People who notice long lines, ballot inconsistencies or have other concerns can call the local line at 913-390-3247. If it’s something the local party can’t resolve, then it will be referred to the state party, Mitchell said.

County Republicans have not responded to a request for information on their advice to voters. But Protect the Vote, the Republican National Committee’s election integrity organization, advised voters to report suspected fraud.

In general other groups advised voters to check ahead of time their Election Day polling places, registration status, mailed ballot status and to find a sample ballot on VoterView.

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