A final canvass of votes cast in the Aug. 2 primary in Douglas County did not change the outcome of any major races.

But Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said a new state law could add some confusion to township and precinct committee races in which write-in candidates were nominated.

The Douglas County Commission met Thursday as the Board of Canvassers to finalize the election results, which included counting provisional ballots that were cast.

Provisional ballots had been a concern statewide because shortly before the election, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach enacted a new, temporary regulation that said an estimated 17,500 voters who had registered at motor vehicle offices without showing proof of U.S. citizenship would have to cast provisional ballots, and only their votes in federal races would be counted.

But on the Friday before the election, a Shawnee County District Court judge blocked enforcement of that rule and said those voters could vote in all races. However, they still had to cast provisional ballots, which are set aside on election night and not counted until the official canvass.

But Shew said there were only 175 provisional ballots cast during the primary. Of those, 129 were counted, but 46 were not counted, most often because the voters were not registered with the party in whose primary they tried to vote, or because they were not registered to vote at all in Douglas County.

Five ballots were cast aside because the voter did not provide photo identification.

None of those came from voters affected by the court decision, and there were not enough of them in any race to change the unofficial outcomes announced on election night.

There were, however, a number of lower-profile races in which write-in campaigns had an impact. Those were for township boards and political party precinct committee positions where it is not uncommon if nobody files for the seat.

This year, seven individuals won races based on write-in votes, including one who will likely be elected because there is currently no other candidate.

Mike Wintermantle won the Republican nomination for Willow Springs Township Trustee on the basis of 28 write-in votes. No Democrat filed for that seat, which means unless there is another write-in campaign in the general election, he will win the seat.

Under state law, Shew said, a person only needs three write-in votes to win election or nomination to a township post.

Typically, he said, those people would withdraw from the race before the general election. But under a new state law, enacted in the wake of the 2014 race for U.S. Senate, the Kansas Legislature has made it virtually impossible to withdraw after the primary, unless the candidate dies.

“To make matters even more interesting,” Shew said, “you do not need to be a declared member of the party of nomination to be on the ballot, so some individuals may be listed on the General ballot for township office for a party to which he or she does not belong.”

That did not happen in Douglas County this year, but Shew said he has heard of that happening in other counties.

Six other people won seats as Democratic or Republican precinct committeeman or committeewoman on the basis of write-in votes. Historically, that has resulted in some people being nominated who don’t wish to serve.

Precinct committee posts are the basic building blocks of party organizations. Every precinct is entitled to elect one committeeman and committeewoman. They, in turn, elect officers to their party’s county, congressional district and state committees.