When can I declare a party?
People can declare their party affiliation when registering to vote or they may come into the County Clerk’s Office to “change” their party affiliation. All “changes” to party affiliation and registering to vote must be done on or before July 17 (the close of registration). But, anyone who remains unaffiliated on the day of the primary may go to the polls to vote and do one of the following:
1) Register with the Republican party and vote their ballot (closed primary)
2) Register with the Democratic party and vote their ballot
3) Remain unaffiliated and vote the Democratic ballot (semi-open primary)
Sneak peeks
As soon as advance voting starts in Barton County, County Clerk Donna Zimmerman said anyone who wants to take a sneak-peek at what their ballot will look like for Tuesday primary can visit myvoteinfo.voteks.org, a site sponsored by the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office. This brings up a window that says “Kansas VoterView.”
Visitors are greeted by a form in which the only required information is the first and last name, and date of birth. Sample ballots are available for both Democrats and Republicans, and appear just as they would in a voting booth.
In addition to ballot previews, visitors to the site can find their voter registration information, locate their polling place and search for their absentee ballot. There is also links to VoteKansas, where one can register to vote on-line, apply for an advance ballot, view voting machine demonstrations or find other voter information. In addition, there is a link to the Kansas Secretary of State home page.
For more information, call the County Clerk’s Office at 620-793-1835.
Due to headaches created by the statewide House and Senate redistricting, it is a frustrating year for Barton County Election Officer and County Clerk Donna Zimmerman.
“We’re struggling,” she said. “It’s a tough year for elections.”
Bugging her the most is the potential delay in the start of advance voting for the Aug. 7 primary. Normally, her office likes to get this going as soon as legally possible and this year that would be July 18.
However, there is still no certified list of candidates from the Kansas Secretary of States Office. “We’re short about 10 days or two weeks,” Zimmerman said.
This means advance voting may not start until July 26 or as late as July 30. “That’s only a week and a day away from the election,” she said of the primary. “We won’t be rolling this out as soon as we’d like.”
Here’s the hang-up – Barton County’s electronic voting machines are supplied by Omaha, Neb.,-based Electronic Systems and Software, which also programs and furnishes the electronic modules containing the ballots that plug into the machines.
This information is provided to the company by the county for the local races and the state for the others. Because of the redistricting, the state’s portion is not ready.
“Every 20 years, we have our most difficult election cycles,” Zimmerman said. This is when the decennial redistricting fight lands on a presidential election year.
Advance voting has become an important part of local elections, Zimmerman said. Out of 16,000
In other election news, election supplies are being ordered and poll workers and polling places have been secured, Zimmerman said.
