NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If you haven't researched your ballot yet for the Nov. 5 election, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said you can look those things up online.
"You can go to votekansas.gov and click on Voter View. You can see a sample ballot. You can also see where your polling place is and how to contact your local election office. If you do an advance mail ballot, you can track there to make sure they received your application, make sure the ballot came out, make sure the ballot got back and things like that as well."
Recently, Schwab had a conversation with the Postmaster General about making sure that election mail is taken care of properly.
"We were very frustrated for several weeks that we were not getting an answer from the United States Post Office," Schwab said. "Finally, Postmaster General DeJoy called me on his personal cell phone and said can we walk through this? They treat the general election different than they treat the primary election. They're gonna do better for the general election, but they're not going to be stellar and it's not his fault. Congress has to decide if the post office is going to be a business unit or just a function of government that doesn't make money and they get stuck. There's a lot of things Congress can't decide on right now. Add that one to the list."
Schwab still recommends that if you did get an advance mail ballot, drop it in the drop box at the Reno County Annex.
"Just put it at the county office where it's handled by your neighbors, one from each party," Schwab said. "Then, it's within the ballot custody laws of Kansas as opposed to the policies and procedures of the United States Postal Service."
Advance voting continues at the Annex during regular business hours and there will also be voting until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30 and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. Advance voting closes at noon on Nov. 4.