Jamie Shew, Douglas County Clerk

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew says advance voting for this year’s primary elections has been steady and near normal.

“We’re just a little ahead of the primary two years ago, but not by a lot,” he said. “We’re not seeing a huge turnout above normal. We have had a lot of phone calls requesting sample ballots and polling sites, so maybe we will have a good election day turnout.”

As of Friday, about 1,500 voters had taken advantage of in-person advance voting and another 530 had requested mail-in advance ballots, Shew said. He predicted the in-person advance voting number would increase because the clerk’s office had in-person advance voting sites Saturday morning in Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton and at the Douglas County Courthouse.

Voters will decide Tuesday on the GOP nominees for secretary of state, insurance commissioner and the 2nd Congressional District, as well as gubernatorial nominees for both the Democratic and Republican parties. Locally, a handful of nominees for state legislative seats will be decided, and Democratic Party voters will choose one of three candidates seeking the 1st District County Commission seat.

Two recent changes will give voters a bit more time when returning mail-in advance ballots for Tuesday’s primary, Shew said.

Voters sending in mail-in ballots no longer have to post them soon enough to ensure they are returned to the county clerk’s office by the day of the election to be counted, Shew said. Because of a change in state law, all ballots postmarked by Tuesday that arrive at the clerk’s office by Friday are to be counted, he said.

The state also now allows voters to return advance mail-in ballots at any of the 59 polling sites that will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the county on Tuesday, Shew said. Advance ballots can also be returned in person to:

• The county clerk’s office in the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., or the return box in the parking lot immediately to the south of the courthouse. Ballots returned to either site by 7 p.m. Tuesday will be counted.

• The Douglas County Treasurer’s Office satellite sites at 2000 West 31st St., Suite B, and at Dillons, 3000 W. Sixth St. Ballots returned to either site by 5 p.m. Tuesday will be counted.

Registered voters can vote in advance in person at the clerk’s office from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Shew said.

The clerk’s office has relocated a number of polling sites because it can no longer use schools for elections because of security concerns, Shew said. He suggested voters visit the clerk’s office website at douglascountyks.org/depts/voting-and-elections to confirm their polling location and view a sample ballot.