KC Election Board corrects website to show Missouri’s new map for early voting
After confusing voters with outdated information as early voting opened for the upcoming Aug. 4 primary election, the Kansas City Election Board has now updated its website to show voters their correct districts according to Missouri’s recent redistricting.
Districts changed for voters across the state after lawmakers approved last fall — and the courts affirmed this spring — a new, gerrymandered map for congressional districts. Kansas City voters are now split into three districts.
Early voting in the form of in-person, excuse-based absentee voting kicked off this week at KCEB headquarters. Those who showed up were directed to vote in their correct districts based on the new map, based on an updated voter dataset that election officials loaded into poll place machines.
However, those preparing for elections at home were steered toward races based on an outdated map, as neither the KCEB website nor the election board’s mailed materials reflected the new districts as of Wednesday.
Those who put their name into the website’s search function are directed to vote in the Fifth District regardless of where they fall under the new division. The election board website also featured outdated maps, all published in 2023, until Thursday morning.
Now, the election board has uploaded a hand-drawn map of the new districts as it waits both for an updated license to use mapping software and for access to the new state dataset that so far only exists on official poll place machinery.
However, while the website’s search function and physical election board mailers remain outdated, Ealom said that she encourages residents to call the KCEB directly at (816) 842-4820 for up-to-date information on which district they will be voting in.
The KCEB previously sent out voter identification cards in February, under a state mandate, along with election notification cards in April. Both were sent with outdated information reflecting the previous congressional map, before final guidance around the new map was available from the state.
A second round of election notification cards with corrected information will be mailed to voters in July pending final guidance from the state, KCEB Democratic Director Lauri Ealom previously told The Star. The updated notification cards are expected to cost taxpayers about $100,000.
The KCEB is one of several electoral bodies in the Kansas City area that faced delays and questions while preparing for the August primary, as the Missouri Supreme Court litigated several cases related to the enforcement and use of the new gerrymandered election map.
The board will be unable to upload a digitally optimized copy of the new electoral map until it is able to renew the license for its mapping software, a process Ealom previously said she’s hoping to expedite.
