Early votes pour in for KC stadium tax issue: ‘We generally don’t have half of this’
Early votes are pouring in for the April 2 municipal elections in Jackson County and Kansas City, where the Royals stadium tax initiative is on the ballot.
At least 5,450 votes have already been cast for the April 2 election, election commissioners told The Star on Wednesday morning. They include around 2,350 walk-in votes in Kansas City and around 3,100 early votes in other parts of Jackson County.
The votes cast so far include walk-in early votes, mailed ballots, overseas and military votes, and votes collected by teams visiting nursing homes. The ballots mailed to the Kansas City Election Board so far haven’t yet been counted.
Election commissioners Shawn Kieffer with the KCEB and Tammy Brown with the Jackson County Election Board told The Star that their early voting totals far exceeded those of past municipal election years.
“For an April election, this is very good,” Kieffer said. “We generally don’t have half of this for a normal April election, which makes us think Election Day is going to be busier (than normal).”
He said that during a typical April municipal election, the KCEB sees voter turnout of around 8-13%. Based on early turnout, he’s predicting that it will double to around 20-22% this year.
While the Jackson County Election Board hasn’t pulled any reports that directly compare this year’s early voting numbers with past April elections, co-director Tammy Brown also said that turnout has been significantly above normal levels.
“We’re higher now than we’ve ever been in other (April) elections,” she said. “This has been a busier April than normal.”
Both commissioners said their offices will not start tabulating early votes until next week on Election Day. After polls close at 7 p.m., the early voting results will likely be the first to be released. Election Day voting results will then be updated throughout the evening.
Do you have more questions about the upcoming April 2 municipal elections? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
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