Wyandotte County expecting low voter turnout for this year’s general election — again
Wyandotte County is again expecting low voter turnout for this year’s mayoral election.
Close to 10% of the county’s eligible voters had cast a ballot as of about noon on Tuesday, according to Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Michael Abbott. He expects voter turnout to be between 15 and 20% for this election.
“We won’t really know until later in the day, but in the past it’s usually around 15%,” Abbott said. “We’d definitely like to see it a lot higher.”
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a photo ID is required to vote.
Abbott would like to see the voter turnout be a lot higher than what it has been in the past. In the 2017 general election, 24.4% of the county’s eligible voters cast a ballot. Abbott was surprised it was that high.
The Wyandotte County Election Commission has always taken an effort to try and encourage residents to turnout to vote. The Election Commission mails letters and postcards multiple times to every household informing them of the dates for early voting and also polling locations.
This year, the Election Commission used Facebook and Twitter a lot more than in the past, Abbott said.
While the turnout was around 10% at noon, the number is expected to climb throughout the day as more votes are cast. There will be a constant flow of votes after 5 p.m., once the workday ends, Abbott said.
The Election Commission also hasn’t received all of the mail-in ballots it sent out. More than 4,000 mail-in ballots were sent out and just over 2,000 have been received. The commission will accept any mail ballot that has been postmarked by election day and received by the Friday after the election.
The biggest item on the ballot is the mayoral race. Mayor David Alvey is vying for his second term in office. But Tyrone Garner is hoping to become the second-straight challenger to unseat the mayor after just one term in office.
The mayoral race has been dominated with both candidates answering questions on police corruption, taxes and immigration enforcement.
Garner narrowly defeated Alvey in the Aug. 3 primary.
Voters will also vote on members of the UG Board of Commissioners and the Board of Public Utilities.
