photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County Commissioners Patrick Kelly and Karen Willey hear from County Clerk Jamie Shew on Monday, August 19, 2024.

After having problems with the post office delivering ballots on time, the Douglas County Election Office was unable to count 201 ballots for the Aug. 6 primary election. But this isn’t a county issue; it’s happening statewide.

The Douglas County office held a primary canvass Monday, when county officials reviewed election results and discussed voter turnout. According to the advance ballot report, many mail-in ballots were received after Aug. 9. The ballots were postmarked before Aug. 6., which means that while the ballot was sent at the appropriate time, some ballots arrived later than expected and were ineligible to be counted.

“They did not (get counted) because the state law says they have to be postmarked on or before Election Day and received in our office by the Friday after election day,” Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew told the Journal-World.

“We received 201 ballots that were postmarked before Election Day,” Shew said at the canvass. “Forty-eight of those ballots were marked from July 22. It took three weeks from when they were postmarked in Kansas City to get to our office in Lawrence.”

He said the election office has never received this many ballots past the deadline and what was really surprising was the ballots were postmarked from two to three weeks prior to the election.

Shew said that the election office mailed 2,426 ballots, and 201 is a pretty significant percentage to arrive late. Although the county is uncertain about the cause of this issue, Shew mentioned that for the general election in November, his office is actively meeting with representatives from the Lawrence post office and the Kansas City processing center.

“We have a really good relationship with the Lawrence post office,” Shew told the Journal-World. “This isn’t the Lawrence post office; it’s the Kansas City processing center where the mail’s kind of getting hung up.”

“We’re working really hard on it,” Shew said. “We’re going to make sure that it is not an impediment in November.”

Since June, the Kansas City area has been affected by significant mail delays. There have been several messages from Kansas residents concerned about missing mail, delayed postal delivery and extended periods with no delivery service at all, according to a June 5 report in the Kansas City Star.

Voters can take steps to ensure their ballots are counted. One way is through the online Ballot Scout, which tracks your ballot through the system.

He also emphasized being aware of voting options. This includes using secure drop boxes, dropping off ballots at a polling place or the election office, and mailing in ballots early.

Overall, Shew said the voter turnout was 18.5% for the 2024 primary election after tallying a total of 14,903 ballots. Douglas County Commissioner Karen Willey asked Shew if this turnout was typical for the county.

Shew said that he anticipated a larger turnout for the county, but it’s difficult to estimate.

“In 2018, we had over 20,000 voters, and in 2016, we were at about 12,000 voters,” Shew said. “I thought we would be closer to that 20,000 voter mark. There are places that have a pretty good turnout, especially on the Democratic side. We had a really low turnout on the Republican side (because) there weren’t as many races.”

However, Shew mentioned that the August primary had more races than the county has had in a long time, and he expects a good turnout for the general election in November.

“In 2020, we were over 60,000 voters, which is the first time in our history that we’ve been over 60,000,” Shew said. “I think we can get close to that.”

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5, with polling stations open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In-person early voting will conclude at noon on Monday, Nov. 4. All mail-in advance ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by Friday, Nov. 8.