photo by: Ashley Golledge

This 2020 sign at the Carnegie Building encourages Lawrence residents to vote.

Douglas County residents hoping to have a say on the upcoming city and school district primary elections have just one more day to cast a ballot.

The primary elections for the Lawrence City Commission and the Lawrence school board are Tuesday. Polls are open until 7 p.m.

So far, more voters have cast ballots during advance voting than they did in the 2017 city and school primary elections, Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said on Monday. More than 1,400 ballots have been cast, and about 1,300 advance mail-in ballots could still be returned to the clerk’s office. Advance mail-in ballots post marked by Tuesday will be counted if the clerk’s office receives it by Friday.

However, Shew said its hard to compare the current turnout to previous primary elections, specifically 2017. That year a little more than 6,000 ballots were cast, which was about 2,000 votes fewer than the 2015 primary election, according to county records. The main difference was that 2017 primary election was the first held in August for local elections after state law moved them from the spring.

But Shew said he expects this year’s primary results to more closely mirror the spring 2015 primary election, when about 8,000 ballots cast.

“We have seen in the past couple of days that interest has picked up a little bit,” Shew said.

Unlike state and federal elections, city and school district elections are nonpartisan. Those who are registered to vote without an affiliation to a political party will still be able to vote in the primary election.

In Lawrence, a primary election is needed for both the City Commission and Lawrence School Board elections. Nine candidates will appear on the ballot for three seats on the City Commission, while 12 candidates will appear on the ballot for three seats on the school board. Voters will be able to select three candidates for each race, and the top six vote-getters will advance to the general election, which will be held Nov. 2.

Information about the candidates can be found in the Journal-World’s voters guide for both the City Commission and the school board.

For more information about voting, visit Douglas County’s election website, douglascountyelections.com.