Post updated at 5:36 PM Saturday November 2:

Douglas County voters have surpassed the previous record number of early in-person ballots cast — by more than 4,000 votes.

The previous record was in the 2016 general election, when in-person early voters cast 15,637 advance votes, Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said Thursday. He expected the record to be broken on Friday.

Indeed it was. According to Saturday morning statistics from the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office, accessed through IKE Lab, early voters in Douglas County had cast 17,832 ballots in person even before early voting hours began on Saturday morning. That’s 2,195 more than the previous record, with two more days of early voting to be added before Election Day.

In an update after voting hours ended on Saturday, the elections office announced that 19,989 early in-person ballots had been cast — 4,352 more than the previous record.

Additionally, the county had received 9,725 ballots as of Saturday morning. Another 14,294 have been sent, meaning 4,659 are waiting to return to the election office.

In total, early-cast ballots — including those cast in person and those returned to the elections office through Saturday morning — represent more than a third of registered voters in Douglas County.

Of the nearly 18,000 in-person ballots already cast as of Saturday morning, about 52.4% were from registered Democrats; 28.4% came from Republicans; and 18.5% came from unaffiliated voters. See more stats on IKE Lab, ike-lab.com.

Early voting wrapped up Saturday at 3 p.m The last chance to vote early in person will take place on Monday, November 4 from 8 a.m. to noon at the elections office, 711 W. 23rd St., Suite 1 in Lawrence. State law requires polls to close at noon on Monday.

Voters who have received a ballot paper in advance are not allowed to send their ballots by mail at this point to ensure they arrive at the election office on time.

View a list of ballots at this link.

You can also take your ballot to any polling place on Election Day. On election day, the polls close at 7 p.m.

On election day, Tuesday, November 5, polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. As long as you are in line to vote before 7 p.m., you can cast your vote.

Voters must report to their assigned polling stations on Election Day to vote. Find out where to go by entering your details or finding an address at myvoteinfo.voteks.org/voterview. To vote in person, you will need a driver’s license or valid ID.

Learn more about how to cast your vote in Douglas County in this article. Check out more election coverage at the links below.

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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. View her staff biography here.

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