Amy Potter wasn’t going to let anyone not even her father tell her how to vote in her second election.

“I got an e-mail from my dad and he said, ‘Vote Republican,'” said Potter, a Kansas University junior from Lenexa. “I need to make my own decision.”

Potter was among the throngs of Lawrence voters who went to the polls Tuesday, drawn mainly by tight races for governor and the 3rd Congressional District.

In Douglas County, 57 percent of registerd voters cast ballots. Only 48 percent did so in the 1998 mid-term election.

Poll workers reported higher-than-usual turnout of KU students. Student leaders staged registration drives that netted more than 3,000 new voters.

One was Megan Bates, a KU freshman from Lawrence.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I get to influence what happens.”

Bates said she voted for Kathleen Sebelius for governor because she thought she would support education more.

Brad Farmer was waiting patiently at Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship, 700 Wakarusa Drive, where he was last in a line of about 30 people late Tuesday afternoon. He said he voted for Tim Shallenburger.

With six voting booths already occupied, Stephanie Smith, right, waits her turn to vote at the Hillcrest School polling place. Douglas County reported 57 percent voter turnout Tuesday.

“I’ve never been a Kathleen Sebelius fan,” Farmer said.

Not everybody voted. John Clark, a 24-year-old lawn maintenance worker, said dirty politics kept him away.

“I can’t be part of a political system that is driven by money,” he said. “I don’t think my vote will change the outcome. I don’t want my name tied to all that.”

Nor did everything go as planned at some polling sites.

Poll workers at Southside Church of Christ, 1105 W. 25th Street, had to remove two signs supporting Denis Moynihan, a write-in candidate for the 3rd Congressional District. State law says signs can’t be within 250 feet of a poll entrance.

Greg Bender, a Lawrence voter, had another concern. He didn’t see locks on the ballot box at his polling site at Mustard Seed; nor on the boxes at Riverside School, 601 N. Iowa, where he and his wife mistakenly tried to vote before going to Mustard Seed.

“If they leave here when they’re totally full, how do we know that somebody isn’t messing with them in a back room somewhere?” Bender said.

Douglas County Clerk Patty Jaimes said boxes are supposed to be sealed. The seals are removed when voting is complete to make sure the number of ballots equals the number of voters at the site. Then a new seal is placed on the box for transport to the Douglas County Courthouse.

She said the unsealed boxes were later sealed for transport and the oversight wouldn’t affect the count.