Saturday marks the beginning of advance voting for the Aug. 1 primary election in Johnson County.
It’s a much more subdued primary slate than last August, when historic turnout was driven by a hotly debated constitutional amendment on abortion.
This year, it’s a smattering of local city council races, along with one school board race in Olathe.
Johnson Countians who want to cast ballots early have a number of options, including in-person advanced voting which starts Saturday.
Here’s what to expect on the ballot — and where (and when) you can cast your vote.
Six city council seats, one school board race on ballot
There are six city council races requiring primaries on Aug. 1, including single ward seats in Overland Park, Lenexa, Merriam and Prairie Village and two seats in Olathe. (You can look up candidates here.)
There is also an at-large seat on the Olathe School Board that will be on some voters’ ballots.
Each of the city council contests features three candidates each, and the at-large school board race has five candidates.
The top two finishers from each race will move on to the Nov. 7 general election.
Johnson Countians can vote by mail, drop box or in person
Registered voters have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, to apply for a mail-in ballot.
Ballots must be mailed to the Johnson County Election Office at 2101 East Kansas City Rd., and postmarked by Election Day, Aug. 1.
Voters can also bring their advanced mail-in ballots directly to any of the county’s three ballot drop box locations, or they can also return them at an in-person advance voting site.
There will be three drop boxes accepting advanced ballots for the Aug. 1 primary election:
- Central Resource Library: 9875 W 87th St., Overland Park
- Johnson County Election Office: 2101 E. Kansas City Rd., Olathe
- Johnson County Northeast Offices: 6000 Lamar Ave., Mission
For this election, the county will open six advance in-person voting sites. Those include:
- Johnson County Election Office
- The Arts and Heritage Center in Overland Park
- JCCC Midwest Trust Center on the campus of Johnson County Community College
- Johnson County Northeast Offices in Mission
- Johnson County Sunset Offices in Olathe
- Olathe Indian Creek Library.
Most of these in-person polling places will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the two Saturdays ahead of the election.
You can find specific hours and addresses for each advanced voting site here.
Voters must bring a government-issued ID (such as a driver’s license) to vote in person.
How to vote in Johnson County on Election Day
Polls will be open on Election Day itself, Aug. 1, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
You can look up your polling place for this election here.
Polling places do frequently change from election to election, so make sure you check before going to vote.
Voters eligible to vote in the Aug. 1 primary also should have received a voter information card in the mail that includes their polling place.
This story was originally published on the Shawnee Mission Post.
