If Barton County voters follow the trend of recent primaries, one in five will have already voted by election day, Aug. 7, according to figures from Barton County Clerk/Election Officer Donna Zimmerman.
In the August 2008 primary, 20.7 percent of the ballots cast were by “advanced voters,” those who either mailed ballots or cast their votes at the county clerk’s office prior to election day. In the August 2010 primary, 21.0 percent of the ballots came from advanced voters.
Votes can be cast in the clerk’s office at the courthouse until noon on the day preceding the election. All ballots must be returned to the county clerk’s office by 7 p.m. on election day. Advance ballots will not be counted until election day.
With a number of Republican races, voter turnout may be higher that usual at the August primary.
“Voter turnout in primaries is never as good a general elections,” Zimmerman said. The August 2008 primary had a total voter turnout of 20.6 percent of the total 16,278 registered voters. A total of 3,346 ballots were cast (694 by advanced voters).
In the August 2010 primary, the number of registered voters had grown to 16,692. There was a 28.5 percent total voter turnout with 4,764 ballots cast (996 by advanced voters).

Candidate finance reports due Monday

Monday, July 30, is the deadline for candidates running for state and county offices to file their pre-primary election campaign reports. In addition, on Thursday, Aug. 2, a report of last-minute contributions will also be filed by any state or local candidate who receives any contributions of $300 or more.
These reports contain the names of most contributors and the amounts of their contributions, as well as information as to how campaign funds are spent.
The state Governmental Ethics Commission notes that these reports are a matter of public record. County candidate reports are available for review in the county clerk’s office in which the candidate is on the ballot. Candidates for state office file their reports only with the Secretary of State.
The office of the county clerk/county election officer will have local candidate receipts and expenditures reports available for review during their regular business hours. State candidate reports can be viewed on the Governmental Ethics Commission’s website, www.kansas.gov/ethics.