OLATHE, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie.
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Delivery trucks are backed up to loading docks. Voting tabulation machines are locked and sealed. Staff members are moving ballots into secured areas.
KSHB 41 News got a behind-the-scenes look at the Johnson County Election Office on Wednesday, the day after the midterm election.
“We’re tired, but we still have to find our energy to keep this train moving,” said Connie Schmidt, election commissioner.
Tuesday’s election had the third-highest number of voters in Johnson County history. Only the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections saw more ballots cast.
The county was able to deliver its unofficial final results by about 11 p.m. Tuesday.
“That means all the polling place results are in, all the advance in-person and advance by mail we’ve processed,” she explained.
Wednesday, the team added some military ballots to its count. Mail-in ballots will go to the final numbers so long as they arrive at the election office on Friday and are postmarked by Nov. 3.
Johnson County received about 6,000 provisional ballots, Schmidt said. These are ballots voters fill out when there’s doubt about eligibility.
The election office hasn’t included these ballots in its totals yet. The canvassing board will decide what to do with them on Nov. 13.
Schmidt said some provisional ballots could be counted, but others may be tossed if the voter isn’t eligible or doesn’t provide additional information confirming their eligibility.
“You don’t know how many of those provisionals we all have will be recommended to be counted. So if the race is close, it could change,” Schmidt said. “The final, official results are the thing you need to watch for.”
Schmidt expects the county to complete its final results on Nov. 16.
The state triggered an automatic “close-race audit” in three statewide races. That means each election office needs to hand count the results from 10% of the county’s precincts to see if they match totals from the voter machines on election night.
Each county already audits 1% of precincts. Schmidt doesn't anticipate a heavy lift.
The deadline for a candidate to request a recount of the election results is 5 p.m. on Nov. 17.
“We felt pressure for a long time on this election,” Schmidt said. “It’s felt high profile with the U.S. Senate race. We have developed a plan several weeks ago how to do a countywide recount. We have that in place. We have 300 poll workers queued up, ready to go.”
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