Mid-afternoon voter turnout at 34 percent
6:17 p.m. Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Unlike many voters, when it came time to fill out his ballot, Trey Davis didn't have to worry about juggling his work schedule with going to the polls. He had election day off, just like every day here recently.
Davis is on strike at Goodyear and says this election is important because he doesn't want to see his job and others like his sent overseas.
"I'm trying to not only protect myself and my family but the people I work with as well," Davis said.
Like many voters in Shawnee County, Davis didn't have to wait long to cast his ballot at his polling place, ward 6, precinct 7. The democratic process was moving pretty quick there.
At Brewster Place, a residential retirement community at 29th and Topeka Boulevard, more voters were coming in, but an empty voting station wasn't too hard to find.
The Mt. Zion Church, 2801 SE Indiana Ave., was bustling this morning for the first 25 minutes after the polls opened, said one volunteer at that location.
Polls close at 7 p.m. and Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley said voter turnout is down slightly, according to mid-afternoon numbers.
As of 3 p.m., 34 percent of registered voters in Shawnee County cast their votes, Ensley said. Four years ago, 36 percent of registered voters had submitted their ballot by the same time.
Ensley predicts a 64 percent voter turnout in Shawnee County, which 14 percent higher than the statewide prediction.
Venida Culpepper contributed to the county's voter turnout, whatever it ends up being.
Culpepper cast her vote at Brewster Place on 29th and Topeka. She was one of 250 people who voted there by 3 p.m.
"I wanted to make my voice count," she said. "I knew who I wanted to vote for, so it was easy."
Meanwhile, Clay Winters with the Kansas National Guard was trying to solve a problem with his registration at the Shawnee County Election Office. He returned to Iraq last year and had registered to vote overseas. But now that he's back, he needed to verify with the Election Office his residence in St. Marys.
He said he believed his vote would help impact who would be the next leaders of the state's government.
"The main focus for me was the gubernatorial race and Phill Kline and Paul Morrison case," he said. "We all have the right to cast our vote, and if you don't take advantage of that right you can't complain."
Polls close at 7 p.m., and that's when the Shawnee County Election Office will begin the flurry of activity that ends in what everyone has been waiting months for: election results.
Results won't be official Tuesday night. The Board of Canvassers meets Nov. 13 when they will account for provisional ballots and announce the official results.
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