If you are sending in your ballot by mail, the ballot needs to be postmarked by Tuesday — Election Day — and it needs to reach the election office by the Friday after the election. You’re best off double-checking that the postal staff do postmark it.
If you hadn’t requested a mail ballot, the deadline has passed to do so.
Voting at the polls
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at least. Some polling sites open earlier.
You can find the address of your polling place here. If you can’t recall whether you are a registered voter, check here. If you aren’t registered, it’s too late to register for Tuesday’s election.
If you show up at your polling site and for some reason are not on the registration rolls, you have the right to fill out a provisional ballot. But before you cast that provisional ballot, ask the poll workers if you simply went to the wrong polling site. If so, they can point you in the right direction.
The American Civil Liberties Union also has a hotline for anyone who experiences problems at the polls. 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
Don’t forget your photo ID
You need to show an approved form of identification at the polls. Here’s a list of your options.
If you don’t have one, you can get one for free at your local DMV office. Tell the clerks that you need a free ID for voting purposes and they will move you to the front of the line.
What are the races?
Everyone gets to vote in the statewide races for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, insurance commissioner and treasurer. After that, your candidates for Congress and the Kansas Legislature vary.
Here’s the candidate list. If you need to know which districts you vote in — for example, which legislative seat — you’ll find those details in your online voter record.
You can also check the League of Women Voters guide for a list of candidates on your local ballot, and candidate surveys (where candidates responded).
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.
CARROLL COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 6:30p.m. Friday in Carroll County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported an International farm tractor driven by Matthew G. Olson, 43, Dawn, was southbound in the 13000 Block of CR 151.
The driver attempted a right turn. The tractor overturned and landed on top of the driver. Olson was pronounced dead at the scene. He was transported Lindley Funeral Home in Chillicothe.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Johnson County prosecutors say child pornography was found on the phone of a man accused of dismembering his wife’s body last year.
Rey -photo Johnson Co.
Prosecutors filed a motion Thursday seeking court permission to add three counts of sexual exploitation of a child to previous charges against 36-year-old Justin Rey.
Rey testified in September that he cut up is wife’s body in a Lenexa storage unit. He has said she died at a Missouri hotel in October 2017.
Rey is scheduled to go on trial Monday on charges of child endangerment and contributing to a child’s misconduct. He also faces charges in Missouri but is not charged in his wife’s death.
In Thursday’s motion, prosecutors say police found the child pornography while searching Rey’s phone last month at his request.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A registered nurse is charged with stealing fentanyl and other drugs from University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia.
Forty-year-old Leslie Neal, of Otterville, was charged Thursday with stealing a controlled substance.
A probable cause statement from officer Kenrick Tucker says Neal took 96 syringes and 16 vials containing fentanyl, four oxycodone tablets and a vial of midazolam. The statement says Neal took the drugs while retrieving drugs for patients.
Tucker wrote that the drugs were stolen for Neal’s personal use.
Tucker said Neal admitted taking the drugs when confronted by her supervisors on June 12 because of concerns she was coming to work under the influence of drugs.
LACLEDE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 11a.m. Friday in Laclede County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford Ranger driven by Katelyn A. Campbell, 17, Camdenton, was southbound on Highway 5 nine miles south of Lebanon.
The pickup traveled off the road, overturned and the driver was ejected. Campbell was pronounced dead at the scene and transported Shadel Colonial Chapel. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man has been convicted of shooting into the sport utility vehicle his ex-girlfriend was driving, wounding her and killing her boyfriend.
Denico Crawley-photo Boone Co.
Thirty-one-year-old Denico Crawley, of Columbia, was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two charges of armed criminal action.
Prosecutors say his ex-girlfriend was approaching an Interstate 70 entrance ramp in June 2017 when Crawley fired 11 shots into her SUV. She survived three gunshot wounds and testified that Crawley was the shooter. Her boyfriend, 25-year-old Quenten Hurt, died 16 days later of complications from the shooting.
Prosecutors plan to seek a lengthy prison term at next month’s sentencing hearing because of Crawley’s criminal record. At the time of the shooting, he was on parole for drug dealing and resisting arrest.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Latest on a rally with Vice President Mike Pence for Republican candidates Josh Hawley and Kris Kobach in Missouri and Kansas (all times local):
Vice President Mike Pence has rallied hundreds of fellow Republicans in Kansas City to boost Senate candidate Josh Hawley in Missouri and governor candidate Kris Kobach in Kansas.
What a great event with Vice President Pence today! Thank you Mr. Vice President for your strong support of our campaign. I am proud to have the support of President Trump and Vice President Pence in this race! #ksleg#ksgov#MKGApic.twitter.com/cmyoSG7WGq
Pence’s speech Friday to a crowd of several hundred people at a Kansas City, Missouri, basketball arena mixed remarks touting President Donald Trump’s record with praise for Hawley and Kobach as conservatives.
Hawley is the Missouri attorney general and is in a tough race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Kobach is the Kansas secretary of state and in a dead-heat race against veteran state legislator Laura Kelly.
Pence and other speakers portrayed Democrats as favoring open borders. They also touched frequently on McCaskill’s vote against confirming U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Authorities have released the names of the two men killed in a Springfield shooting that left two other men critically injured.
Police on the scene of the investigation early Thursday –photo courtesy KYTV
Police identified the slain men in a news release Friday as 23-year-old Aaron Hampton, of Springfield, and 38-year-old Steven Marler, of Fordland. They were found dead Thursday in a Springfield home after a 911 caller reported hearing gunshots. Police say the two surviving victims were rushed to hospital, where they are in critical but stable condition.
No one has been arrested. Police are urging anyone with information to call the department or a tips hotline.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Authorities say two men have been fatally shot and two others wounded at a Springfield home.
Police spokeswoman Jasmine Bailey says the victims were found inside and outside the home early Thursday. No one has been arrested and no suspect information has been released. Police also aren’t releasing the names of the victims, the conditions of the two men who survived or a motive.
Police urged the public to stay away from the crime scene in a tweet .
Republican Scott Schwab and Democrat Brian McClendon disagree on the most basic of questions about the job they’re competing for, Kansas secretary of state.
Case in point: Is it the secretary’s job to increase voter turnout?
Shawnee County workers check election equipment this summer to make sure it functions correctly. SCOTT CANON / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Schwab, a lawmaker of more than 10 years, says no. He says the things that drive voters to the polls lie beyond the secretary’s control — times of war, ailing economies, contested races.
“The secretary of state can’t make people vote and I can’t change people’s hearts,” he said. “All I can do is make sure it’s a good experience when they do go vote.”
McClendon, a former Google vice president from Lawrence, doesn’t buy that.
“The current secretary of state” — Republican candidate for governor Kris Kobach — “has done the opposite,” he said.
Kobach is appealing, but won’t be in the office long enough to see that through. McClendon wants to drop the appeal. Schwab wants to pursue it.
Schwab’s campaign cuts a low profile — no flashy promises, just to do the job well. McClendon is pitching his Silicon Valley sensibility — a competitive drive to push beyond the status quo and make Kansas a leader in election administration.
Schwab is a former chairman of the House elections committee. He helped usher in the raft of statutory changes that reshaped Kansas election law during the Kobach era. Schwab offers to be the caretaker to that legacy who will work out any kinks and make things run smoothly.
McClendon is a technology executive turned ballot-access crusader. He sees myriad ways in which Kobach’s office is behind the times and poor at customer service. He launched KSVotes, an app that (according to its own data) nearly 25,000 Kansans used to register with the ease of their own smartphones and nearly 21,000 used to order advance ballots.
Kobach’s legacy
During his eight years as secretary of state, Kobach transformed a quiet workhorse office into a megaphone to talk about everything from immigration to guns.
Smith sees that as a backdrop for the candidates’ campaign promises of good government, even if only one of them — McClendon — criticizes Kobach openly in his ads.
Screenshot from a Scott Schwab TV ad.
Smith suspects Schwab, if elected, will take a different tack from Kobach — not so much in terms of policy, but in terms of personality.
“He’s more, sort of a quiet, get-it-done kind of conservative,” Smith said.
The Great Bend native has himself suggested he would bring a change in style and a focus on training and written guidelines for the county clerks who do all the heavy lifting come election time.
“People just want a secretary of state who is going to do that job,” Schwab said. “We’re literally going to be the secretary for the state of Kansas. We’re going to make sure our results and our elections are trustworthy. And then on the business filings, we’re going to make sure your data is secure.”
Schwab touts as a success another statutory change that Kobach spearheaded and he helped pass — the requirement that Kansans show IDs at the polls.
He suggests a departure from Kobach’s legacy on one point, however. Kobach grew his office’s powers to include criminal prosecution of voter fraud — work that traditionally falls to district attorneys or the attorney general’s office.
“I voted for it,” he said, but “I wasn’t real excited about it, because it was an expansion of government role.”
The change produced little fruit: Kobach’s office managed to find a handful of cases, compared to the thousands or tens of thousands that he said existed.
Schwab says he wouldn’t mind seeing the Legislature take away prosecutorial powers so the office can focus on core functions related to elections and business filings.
‘That’s just not right’
Like Schwab, McClendon isn’t interested in prosecution. Unlike Schwab, he wants to dig deep into Kansas’ election logistics and figure out why it recently ranked in the bottom half of states on voter registration and turnout.
“I can build a better system to make Kansas a leader in this area,” he said. “I’m competitive and I want Kansas to win.”
He rattles off the ways in which Kansas can improve. For McClendon, it’s not good enough that Johnson County has had repeated problems with its voting equipment. Nor does he like that Dodge City has a single polling site, relocated recently outside city limits to a spot without a bus route or sidewalk.
Garden City, another west Kansas metro of the same size, has half a dozen sites, he notes.
“So you literally have to get out of Dodge to vote in Dodge,” he said. “That’s just not right.”
Screenshot of a Brian McClendon TV ad.
McClendon promises to apply his tech savvy to election security — and to business filing systems criticized as inefficient by Republicans and Democrats alike. He wants to review millions in state information technology spending that he says Kobach neglected amid his high-profile hunt for voter fraud.
“We can actually save the state money and make the state easier to use,” he said. “Governments tend to do technology badly.”
Candidate challenges
In a normal election year, the race for secretary of state draws little money or attention.
Republicans have won it every time over the past 68 years. In recent years, they’ve won by margins of 20, even 30 percentage points.
That’s McClendon’s biggest challenge — having “Democrat” by his name in Kansas.
Beatty says Democrats win statewide offices in Kansas under limited conditions — such as a combination of an accomplished, well-resourced Democratic candidate and scandals or controversies that make the Republican vulnerable and raise the profile of the race.
When a lot feels at stake, residents of deep-red Kansas sometimes break their tradition of voting “R” down the ballot.
Sitting in his office, Beatty illustrates the Republican’s other challenge by pulling a pollster’s report from his filing cabinet. Less than 40 percent of respondents had a good opinion of Kobach.
“Now when you talk Kobach and a governor’s race,” Beatty said, “He’s fine with 38 percent favorable.”
There are three major candidates for governor. Schwab is in a two-person race. (The Libertarian candidate, Rob Hodgkinson, won less than 3 percent of the vote when he ran in 2006.)
“If he’s paired with Kobach in people’s minds,” Beatty said, “he can lose this election.”
Even if Schwab is promising a return to the type of Republican who just got the job done — without being a lightning rod.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.
BENTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating after police took a report Thursday night involving a 12-year-old girl biting into a sewing needle embedded in a kit-kat bar, according to a social media report from police in Benton.
Photo courtesy Benton Co. Sheriff
The candy was reported being collected in the Warsaw area, according to police.
It is unclear who or how the needle ended up in the treat. Police reported on their social media page, “It’s a sick demented individual who would do such an act. Parents, check your children’s candy. Door to door trick or treating is nearing its end and your Trunk or Treats from the Churches, schools and cities are a safer idea.”
If anyone has any information on this heinous act. Please call my Office. 660 438 6135
