Karen Vespestad casts her ballot early Tuesday for local school board and city commissioners. Voter turnout was slow early in the day — of the 1,165 voters registered at Kanwaka Township Hall, only 5 had voted by 8:30 a.m.

9:41 p.m. As the courthouse quickly empties, here’s a look at the final, unofficial totals.

Incumbent commissioner Mike Amyx led wire to wire and finished with 5,564 votes. If tradition holds, he will become mayor in April 2010.

Aron Cromwell finished with 3,982 votes. The owner of an environmental consulting business is in line to become mayor in April 2011. Both he and Amyx will serve four year terms.

Lance Johnson, the top fundraiser in the race, won a narrow victory with 3,572 votes. He will serve a two year term.

Former Planning Director Price Banks finished with 3,413 votes.

James Bush finished with 3,241 votes.

Gwen Klingenberg finished with 2,470 votes

Dennis Constance finished with 2,204 votes

Tom Johnson finished with 700.

9:38 p.m. With the Langston Hughes School precinct finally reporting, Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical Chief Mark Bradford takes over the top spot in the Lawrence school board race with 3,661 votes.

The top three still do not change with Vanessa Sanburn 3,596 votes and Bob Byers at 3,055 votes poised to win the other two seats.

Tom Hartley is in fourth place with 2,426 votes, and Thom Hepford finished fifth with 2,399 votes.

Michael Riley with 1,736 votes, Michael Pomes with 1,641 and John Mitchell with 1,030 votes round out the field.

The Douglas County Commission will canvass the results at 9 a.m. Friday in the commission chamber of the courthouse, 1100 Mass.

Until that time, all results are unofficial.

9:32 p.m.Unofficial result are in and Lance Johnson has won the third spot by 159 votes over Price Banks. Mike Amyx won the top spot and Aron Cromwell finished second.

9:11 p.m. As we wait for the final precinct to arrive, what does appear to be a safe bet is that both Mike Amyx and Aron Cromwell will serve on the next commission. We caught up with both for their reaction. Here’s a look.

Mike Amyx said he thought his experience and his fiscally conservative nature helped push him to victory.

“The big thing I heard from people is that they are concerned how their money is going to be spent,” Amyx said. “Let’s face it, people are having to make hard decisions about how to spend their money.”

Cromwell said he thought voters were sending a message that they wanted a balanced approach to how the city deals with tight economic times. Cromwell has said the city needs to adopt a new focus on jobs, but also needs to avoid cutting social service funding.

“I think it shows that people want us to work to preserve and strengthen our economy and our job base, while at the same time worrying about the social and environmental issues that have always been important to us,” Cromwell.

Final results should be coming soon. Langston Hughes officials have called to say that they are on their way.

9:06 p.m. With election officials waiting on one final Douglas County precinct, the top three in the Lawrence school board race has not changed throughout the night. Vanessa Sanburn, Mark Bradford and Bob Byers are all poised to win the three board seats.

Here are the results so far: Sanburn 3,488 votes; Bradford 3,449; Byers 2,954; Tom Hartley 2,340; Thom Hepford 2,291; Michael Riley 1,671; Michael Pomes 1,577; and John Mitchell 990.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said the race would include a handful of votes from voters in the district’s boundaries from Jefferson and Leavenworth counties. Election officials are waiting on one final precinct — the Langston Hughes School polling site, which is one of the city’s largest. Douglas County Clerk said those poll workers are on their way to the courthouse.

8:49 p.m. Still coming down to the wire with one precinct, Langston Hughes, left to vote. Here’s the results

Amyx 5,292

Cromwell 3,889

Lance Johnson 3,321

Banks 3,271

Bush 3,050

Klingenberg 2,420

Constance 2,161

Tom Johnson 685

For those trying to do math, there are 240 votes separating third from fifth place. Langston Hughes likely will have several hundred votes to count and likely will be the largest number of votes of any precinct in the city.

8:36 p.m. We’ve confirmed that the accident in Olathe causing the power outage in Eudora did lead to a fatality. More information soon.

8:32 p.m. 8:30 We have a very tight race coming down to the wire for the third and final spot on the commission. With all but 5 precincts reporting Lance Johnson holds a three vote lead over Price Banks for the third and final spot. But the four precincts left to count are among the largest in the city. Those are Deerfield, Brandon Woods, Free Methodist, First Baptist Church, and Langston Hughes.

Here’s the totals as we know them:

Amyx 4,541

Cromwell 3,455

Lance Johnson 2,835

Banks 2,832

Bush 2,597

Klingenberg 2,18

Constance 1,950

Tom Johnson 602

8:31 p.m. We’re getting reports of a serious accident that caused a power outage in Eudora. We’re contacting to police to find out how serious. More soon.

8:25 p.m. With 52 of 60 precincts reporting Kansas University graduate student Vanessa Sanburn maintains her lead over Mark Bradford with 3,087 votes to 2,988 votes. Bob Byers is in third place with 2,590 votes.

The top three candidates will win seats.

The rundown on the other candidates is: Tom Hartley 2,053 votes; Thom Hepford, 1,990; Michael Riley, 1,461; Michael Pomes 1,402; and John Mitchell 868 votes.

8:14 p.m. About half of the precincts have been counted in the city. Here’s a look at what areas are included in the totals.

Pinckney, Douglas County Senior Center, Plymouth Cong., Burge Union, American Legion, Clinton Parkway Assembly of God, Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship, Hillcrest, Drury Place, Central United Methodist, Lawrence High Annex, Cornerstone Southern Baptist, Checkers Foods, Southside Church of Christ, United Way Building, Central Junior High, Babcock Place, East Lawrence Rec Center, Kennedy School, New York School, Church of Christ, Free State High, Lawrence Heights Christian Church, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Notably, there are two large West Lawrence precincts that have not yet reported. Thos are Langston Hughes and Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Both precincts had among the highest turnouts two years ago in the last City Commission election.

8:11 p.m. In the Lawrence school board race, the top three candidates have not changed as 29 of the 60 precincts are counted. Kansas University graduate student Vanessa Sanburn maintains the top spot and a 10-vote lead over Mark Bradford, chief of Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical. Sanburn has 1,788 votes, and Bradford has 1,778 votes.

Bob Byers, a Kansas Social and Rehabilitative Services worker, is in third place with 1,520 votes, ahead of Tom Hartley, the former county Democratic Party chairman, with 1,179 votes.

The top three will win seats.

The others in the race so far are: Thom Hepford 1,151 votes; Michael Pomes 855 votes; Michael Riley 840 votes and John Mitchell, a school board member who decided not to run after he had already filed, with 562 votes.

8:06 p.m. More results and another shakeup in the standing. Mike Amyx continues to lead, and Cromwell holds onto to second, but Lance Johnson has taken a very narrow hold on the final winner’s spot. With 25 of 49 Lawrence precincts reporting, here’s a look:

Amyx: 2,621

Cromwell: 1,966

Lance Johnson 1,653

Banks 1,651

Bush 1,504

Klingenberg 1,246

Constance 1,105

Tom Johnson 350

More details on what areas of the city are reporting in a moment.

8:02 p.m. Of the 17 Douglas County precincts already counted, a majority of them are near downtown or east Lawrence, according to the Douglas County Clerk’s office.

This could lead to some fluidity in the results of the Lawrence City Commission and school district results as more poll workers from precincts from western Lawrence return their ballots to the Douglas County Courthouse.

7:59 p.m. Here’s an update on what area’s of the city have had their votes counted thus far and included in the last round of totals we reported. They are

Douglas County Senior Center, 707 Vt.

America Legion, 3408 W. Sixth

Cornerstone Southern Baptist Church, 802 W. 22nd Terrace

Central Junior High, 1400 Mass.

Plymouth Congregrational Church, 925 Vt.

Burge Union

Hillcrest School, 1045 Hilltop

Lawrence High Annex, 2017 La.

Checkers Foods, 2300 La.

Southside Church of Christ 1105 W. 25th

Kennedy School, 1605 Davis Road

Church of Christ, 201 Mich.

Lawrence Heights Christian Church, 2321 Peterson Road

Amyx 1,564

Cromwell 1,269

Banks 967

Klingenberg 841

Lance Johnson 834

James Bush 822

Constance 731

* Tom Johnson 220

No word yet on what areas of the city these results represent, but in past elections, the east side results have been among the first to arrive.

7:38 p.m. In the Lawrence school board race, a tally of nearly all of the advance votes show Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical Chief Mark Bradford with a slight lead in the race, and he’s joined in the top three by Kansas University graduate student Vanessa Sanburn and Bob Byers, chairman of the district’s equity council.

Here is the rundown so far:

Bradford 378 votes; Sanburn 308 votes; Byers 225; Tom Hartley 206 votes; Thom Hepford 167; John Mitchell 140; Michael Riley 133; and, Michael Pomes 119. The top three will win seats in the race.

Still waiting at the courthouse on poll workers to bring in their ballots from polling sites across the county.

7:30 p.m. The first signs of who may be successful tonight have emerged.

Election workers have tallied advance ballots, and they show that incumbent Mike Amyx has a clear lead in the Lawrence City Commission race.

They also show a battle shaping up for the final two spots.

Amyx tallied 532 votes in advance voting. Lance Johnson, an owner of a Lawrence-based civil engineering firm, collected 310 votes. Aron Cromwell, the owner of a Lawrence-based enviromental consulting firm is sitting in the final winner’s spot with 299 votes.

But James Bush, a Lawrence sales and marketing professional, is close behind with 285 votes, and Lawrence attorney and former city planning director Price Banks is at 239.

Rounding out the field is Gwen Klingenberg with 199, Dennis Constance with 183, and Tom Johnson has 80.

5:57 p.m. Light turnout reports from East Lawrence keep coming in.

About 74 people had voted at Checkers, 2300 La., by 5 p.m. according to Glennette Corel, a volunteer at the poll. That’s 7.3 percent of the 1,009 registered voters at the location.

Corel said that she’d been at Checkers since the polls opened at 7 a.m. and that the longest line she’d seen was a group of five people. The poll will close at 7 p.m.

She said most people swing by the poll station while they’re shopping, though some just ask for the tissues or toilet paper located behind the poll station and move on.

4 p.m. Almost 200 people had voted at Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship, 700 Wakarusa Drive. That’s about 8 percent of the 1,773 voters registered at the polling site.

“Things are happening,” a poll worker said as there was a steady flow. “Things are cooking.”

Among the voters was Brenda Inman, 35, who brought her two daughters, ages 1 and 4. Inman said she doesn’t miss participating in an election. She described it as an opportunity and responsibility. She said her 4-year-old can’t wait to participate herself. She wanted to know how old she needed to be and could she vote once she is out of the car seat.

Across the street at Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community, 175 people had voted out of 1,296 eligible voters.

Emma Garrett, a resident, was stitching a shawl for the homeless. She chit-chatted with another resident and watched voters come and go.

Garrett, who has lived in Lawrence for more than 60 years, said she voted right after breakfast. She, too, doesn’t miss an election.

“They are all important,” she said.

1 p.m.At Holcom Park Recreation Center, home to voters in Precinct 17, election officials had recorded 85 voters as of about 1 p.m. That was around 10 percent of the precinct’s registered voters.

The voting numbers weren’t anything compared to the general election in November.

“We had that many per hour,” said Kitty Pacheco, supervising judge.

Still 10 percent isn’t bad for a city and school election, said judge Marsha McPheeters. Primaries usually see a 15 percent turnout.

The early morning was busiest at the polling place, and there was a lunch rush. The two women expected to see more voters after school.

“Other than the general election, it’s running pretty true to form,” McPheeters said.

3:58 p.m.Chad Lawhorn just returned from a check of several polling places east of Iowa. Turnout there was generally lower than west of Iowa. Here’s what he found:

1:45 At Trinity Lutheran, 1245 N.H., 90 people had voted, but the church was serving as a polling place for two precints. In total there were 2,940 people.

1:50 At Central United Methodist, 1501 Mass., 27 people out of 2,035 had cast ballots.

2:00 At Cordley Elementary, 1837 Vt., 67 people out of 1,456 had cast ballots.

2:05 At the Lawrence High Annex, 19th and Louisiana, 42 out of 1214 people had voted.

2:20 At Checkers, 2300 La., 52 of 1,009 voters had cast ballots.

2:30 At Coffin Sports Complex on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus, 60 people had cast ballots. But the gym was serving as a polling site for two precincts. In total, there were 2,070 voters on the rolls.

2:45 At Prairie Park Elementary, 2711 Kensington Road, 66 out of 1,177 people had voted.

3:00 At East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 15th St., 64 out of 1,219 people had voted.

As a reminder, the last time city and school elections were held in April 2007, voter turnout countywide was just under 19 percent. It just so happens that we checked polling places that year too. Here’s one indication that turnout may be lower this time around: In 2007, we went to the East Lawrence Recreation Center at 1:30 p.m. and 83 people had cast votes. This year, we went at 3 p.m. and 64 people had cast votes.

2:26 p.m. Chad Lawhorn just did a swing through a number of polling places. Here’s what he found:

12:30 At Langston Hughes,1101 George Williams Way, in western Lawrence voters were turning out in good numbers, poll workers said. 186 out 1,992 had cast ballots.

12:35 At Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 6001 Bob Billings Parkway, 112 out of 1227 had cast ballots.

12:45 At Pioneer Ridge Assisted Living, 4851 Harvard, 110 out 1,296 voters had cast ballots. One voter there also offered a theory on why Lawrence City Commission races don’t draw more voters.

“We’ve arranged in our wisdom here in Lawrence to have a pretty much helpless city government,” said Bill Paschke. “That probably helps keep the excitement level low.”

Paschke said he thought an election that allowed voters to directly elect a mayor and that broke the five-member city commission into geographic wards would lead to more voter interest.

12:50 At Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship, 700 Wakarusa Drive, voters had 132 out of 1,773 voters had cast ballots.

1 p.m. At First Southern Baptist Church, 119 out of 1,826 voters had cast ballots.

1:10 At the American Legion, 3408 W. Sixth, 103 of 1,035 voters had cast ballots.

We’ll do a check of eastside voting places coming up. Two years ago during the last City Commission election, the west side of Lawrence came out in much heavier numbers than the east side of the city. We’ll see if that holds true this year.

1:58 p.m. Reports from Baldwin City indicate some of the highest turnout in the county.

The Baldwin City Signal is reporting, as of 1 p.m., 115 voters had gone to the polls the Baldwin City Fire Station, 110 at the American Legion Hall and 84 Baldwin Elementary School Primary Center. At 7:30 a.m., five people had voted at the Vinland First United Methodist Church.

Voters in town are choosing between mayoral candidates Gary Walbridge, Ken Wagner and George McCrary and will choose city council members from the field of Tom Farmer, Ric Gere, Russ Gill, Chris Nichols and Bonnie Plumberg. The three incumbents for Baldwin School Board — Ruth Barkley, Bill Busby and Ande Parks — are running unopposed, but voters can write in additional choices.

1:45 p.m. The turnout about 1:30 p.m. at Central Junior High School was just over 8 percent. A total of 114 voters of the 932 registered had voted by that time.

1:28 p.m. We have our first report in from Eudora. Though it’s a little dated now, 54 people had voted at the Eudora Township Hall as of 10:30 a.m.

Also, as of about 11 a.m., 32 out of about 1800 registered voters had cast ballots at Kennedy Elementary, 1605 Davis Road, in eastern Lawrence.

Turnout was particulary slow when polls opened at 7 a.m., said poll worker Mary Baxter. She said only three ballots were cast before 8 a.m.

And, as of about 11 a.m., poll workers at New York Elementary, 936 NY, in East Lawrence were relatively pleased with a slow but steady stream of voters. 39 voters out of 1,040 registered had cast ballots.

New York voter Will Musgrove said he was very focused on a pair of issues.

“I voted for candidates who will bring job growth to Lawrence and who will build the South Lawrence Trafficway,” Musgrove said. “

12:40 p.m. You want to talk about slow turnout?

Try visiting the Burge Union. One of our reporters just got back where he met the first voter of the day in the precinct: At 11:30 a.m!

The County Clerk’s office is predicting only 15 people will vote in the precinct, which has about 2,000 registered voters.

11:59 a.m. One of our reporters just got back from a church in northwest Lawrence where was checking on voters.

About 79 people had voted at at the First Southern Baptist Church.

The poll workers told him they were staying busy by remembering what it was like to be busy in November.

11:32 a.m. Just heard from an LJWorld.com user. She voted at 11:22 a.m. at Kennedy Elementary school and was the 37th voter.

11 a.m. About 25 have voted so far at Pinckney Elementary school this election. In November, 400 people cast their vote at the school off Sixth Street.

“I think a lot of people aren’t even aware that there’s an election. It’s just not as public as a national one, so it just doesn’t have the interest of people,” said poll worker Lori Lange.

Voter George Osborne said that local elections are even more important than national ones.

“I think the local elections are the ones that probably affect us the most, and unfortunately, that seems to have the lowest turnout,” he said.

Lawrence Public Library poll worker Aspen Junge said it’s important to be heard in this election.

“If you’ve got a concern that maybe just you and a few friends have, you should still bring it up to your local officials because they’re actually very motivated to listen to you and help you out,” Junge said.

10:29 a.m. It’s Election Day in Lawrence, and the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Douglas County

If you’re still on the fence about who to vote for, check out the archive of all our election coverage.

Turnout so far has been light around the city. At Presbyterian Manor, 27 people had voted by 8:30 a.m. Only five people had voted at Kanwaka Township by that time. And as of 9:30 a.m., 34 people had voted at the American Legion post in Lawrence.

Check back to LJWorld.com throughout the day for more updates on turnout and election day problems, and then come back after the polls for live election results including a precinct-by-precinct breakdown in all the races.

If you’re voting today, send your polling place experiences and any photos your take to editor@ljworld.com. You can also tweet them @LJWorld.