OLATHE, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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Election officials across Kansas are taking a closer look at some of this year's closest races. Johnson County begins its audit Monday morning, with election workers going back through ballots to make sure the unofficial results match what voters actually cast.
The audits are happening because Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab announced that a close-race audit has been ordered after six races results came in within one percentage point. Five of those affect Johnson County: the races for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Kansas House Districts 27 and 117.
Since those races were so close, state law requires a manual hand count of ballots in an additional 10 percent of precincts.
Wyandotte County started its audit process last week.
"It really is just a verification to make sure the tallies on election day are what they're supposed to be," Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Michael Abbott said.
Election workers in WyCo counted ballots by hand, with people from different political parties paired together to keep the process bipartisan.
"The bottom line is it's important to know and understand your vote counts. That's what this is saying. It counts, they're double checking it with this audit," Sharon Aluqdah, who viewed the audit, said.
Johnson County's audit begins at 9 a.m. Monday morning at the election office in Olathe. It's open to the public, so anyone can watch the process.
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