photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Douglas County voters line up outside the election office on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, the last day for advance voting, which stopped at noon.

UPDATED 5 p.m., Nov. 4

Monday was the last chance for advance voting in Douglas County, and the county clerk reports record turnout.

For much of the morning on Monday, the line of people to vote at the Douglas County Elections Office at 23rd and Louisiana streets stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk. County Clerk Jamie Shew reported that after the election office closed to in-person advance voting at noon, the election office had received 20,990 in-person advance ballots.

Shew noted that the previous record for in-person ballots was 15,637, set during the 2016 presidential election. Additionally, the office has mailed out 14,000 mail-in ballots and has received about 10,600 of them back.

For Election Day itself on Tuesday, Shew is predicting one of the highest turnouts the county has had. In the 2020 election, a record was set with 60,000 voters participating, including those who cast advance ballots and those who voted on Election Day.

“I don’t know if we’ll reach that point, but we might be pretty close,” Shew said. “It kind of depends on what Election Day looks like.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Douglas County voters line up outside the election office on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, the last day for advance voting, which stops at noon.

Now, the focus turns to in-person voting. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m on Tuesday. Voters will need to go to their assigned polling locations, based upon where they are registered to vote. Residents can find their polling station — also known as a precinct — at myvoteinfo.voteks.org/voterview/

Voters are reminded to bring a photo ID, which can include a driver’s license or state-issued ID from Kansas or another state, a U.S. passport, a military ID, or an ID from a Native American tribe. A complete list of acceptable identification can be found on the secretary of state’s website (https://sos.ks.gov/elections/photo-id.html).

If problems emerge at the polls — such as your name not showing up on the voter registration list — you are entitled to cast a special type of ballot called a provisional ballot. That ballot will be kept separate from other ballots so that election officials can research any issues associated with the status of the voter — such as whether the individual is actually registered or has valid identification. If those questions of status can be successfully resolved, the ballot can be counted prior to the Nov. 18 general canvass, which is the procedural event where the election results become official.

Residents who received a mail-in ballot can continue to vote those ballots and return them up to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, which is when all polls close. However, Shew and other election officials are no longer recommending that voters put those ballots in the mail because there are questions whether they would be delivered in time to be counted.

Shew recommends dropping off those mail-in ballots at a ballot drop box instead of mailing it to the office. This will ensure the ballot is received in time to be counted, he said. The drop boxes are checked daily by non-partisan board of election officials and are secured and closed at 7 p.m. on Election Day. The drop boxes can be found at the following locations:

* Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., Lawrence.

* Douglas County Clerk and Election Office, 711 W. 23rd St., Lawrence.

* Treasurer Satellite-South Lawrence Office, 2000 W. 31st St., Lawrence.

* Douglas County Fairgrounds – Flory Meeting Hall, 2120 Harper St., Lawrence.

* Golf Course Superintendents Building, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence.

* Baldwin City Hall, 803 Eighth St., Baldwin City.

* Eudora City Hall, 4 E. Seventh St., Eudora.

* Lecompton City Hall, 327 Elmore St., Lecompton.

Shew said that election results will be tallied when the office receives them, and it can take some time. He estimated that the office will release the majority of advance votes around 7:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, once the polling locations are closed, employees will have to physically count the ballots and compare signatures among other things, Shew said.

“That takes a while,” Shew said. “Some polling places may have 1,500 voters, so that could take a couple of hours … So probably about 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m. we’ll start getting results, and then we’ll be done when we get everybody.”