Wichita ? Sedgwick County residents will become the latest in the state to vote on expanded gambling when they head to the polls Tuesday.

The election will determine whether the county will allow a casino and whether the Wichita Greyhound Park will be permitted to add slot machines.

In April, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a law that permits lottery-owned casinos in four areas – Ford County, Wyandotte County, either Cherokee or Crawford county, and either Sedgwick or Sumner county. The law also permits slot machines at race tracks in Kansas City, Wichita and Frontenac.

The new gambling requires the approval of the county’s voters. And residents of Wyandotte, Sumner, Cherokee, Crawford and Ford counties already have approved the gambling expansion.

In Sedgwick County, election officials are preparing for an above-average turnout for a special election.

More than 3,400 people voted in advance at satellite voting sites on Thursday alone.

Jennifer Neef, leader of Mothers Against Casinos, said the higher turnout could be good for the anti-casino campaign because “the more I talk to people, the more concerned they become. I think there’s a lot of people passionate about it.”

Gambling supporters also were hoping for a heavy turnout.

Doug Lawrence, executive director of the Kansas Greyhound Association and a leader of the pro-gambling forces, said that people who vote regularly don’t tend to favor casinos, but that a high number of “yes” votes exists among people who don’t turn out for every election.

“We believe if the general population turns out in good numbers, it’ll be ‘yes-yes,'” Lawrence said.

Sumner County officials are watching the Sedgwick County vote with interest. If Sedgwick County voters reject expanded gambling, Sumner County will have exclusive rights to a casino in south-central Kansas.

“Naturally we’re going to be thrilled if we have the exclusivity in putting in our own casino,” said Janis Hellard, director of the Sumner County Economic Development Commission, “but it really doesn’t make that much difference what the vote is in Sedgwick County because we’re going to proceed anyway.”