Commission Accepts 16 Partial Counts and Rejects 33 Provisional Ballots

The Saline County Commission voted to accept recommendations on additional categories of provisional ballots during its election canvass, approving 16 ballots for partial counting and 33 ballots to not be counted.

The partial counts included six voters who moved within the county but were unable or unwilling to travel to their new polling location, two voters who cast ballots at the wrong polling place, and eight primary-only ballots from voters who wanted to vote in a party other than the one they were registered with. The official explained that for partial counts, staff compare the ballot a voter received with the ballot they should have received based on residence and count the races that match. For the party-change ballots, only nonpartisan items such as the constitutional amendment could be counted, because the party-change registration deadline was June 1 at noon.

The commission also approved a recommendation not to count 33 ballots. These included 27 voters who were not registered in Saline County or the state of Kansas, two who failed to provide ID at the polls, one whose signature did not match, one who returned an advance ballot unsigned, one voter who cast an advance ballot and died before Election Day, and one clerical-error case involving a voter who cast a second provisional ballot after missing the constitutional amendment on her first ballot.

Officials said affected voters were contacted and given the opportunity to cure their ballots before the canvass, but did not do so. Both motions were moved, seconded and carried.