Wyandotte County voters now have more ways to vote than ever before.

Wyandotte County Elections Commissioner Bruce Newby has opened a new satellite location for advance voting at Kansas Speedway. The advance voting site is located at 110^th Street and I-70 (Exit 410) just south of the Kansas Speedway. The new location makes voting available to registered voters on both Saturdays before Election Day and the entire week prior to Election Day.

"Because of the ease of access to this location, we also hope to serve many county voters who can combine a shopping trip to the Legends or attendance at a sports event with voting.  We also hope this new voting venue will help to increase overall voter turnout," said Elections Commissioner Bruce Newby.

The Kansas Speedway is providing the space to the Unified Government at no cost. Newby hopes to add more satellite locations in the future. 

"As we gain experience and success with this initiative, we hope to expand voting opportunities in other parts of our county if we can find suitable facilities and adequate funding," Newby said.

Meanwhile, voters also have three other ways cast their ballots.

(1) vote in advance by mail.

(2) vote in advance at the Election Office.

(3) vote at their polling place on Election Day. 

Here are some of the details:

• Early voting at the satellite location at Kansas Speedway
•  Hours:  Saturday: 9am to 3pm
• Monday through Friday: 10am to 7pm
• Dates:  Begins Saturday, July 26, continues July 28 to August 2
• Location: Kansas Speedway at I-70 & 110^th Street (Exit 410)
• This site will offer touchscreen voting only. No paper ballots. 

• Early voting at the Election Office (850 State Avenue)
• Hours:  Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm
• Dates:  Already underway now until 12noon August 4  

• Early voting by mail:
• Applications available now online at www.wycokck.org/election
• Ballots started being mailed July 16.
• Voted ballots must be returned by August 5 

• Vote on Election Day, Tuesday, August 5:
• Vote at your designated polling place
• Hours:  7am to 7pm

Your Vote - Your Way!  Choose the option which works best for you. 

What is a Primary Election?

The Primary Election is Tuesday, August 5^th, 2014. This election is held for the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. It is the opportunity for members of each Party to choose their candidates who will advance to the General Election, November 4^th.

As a Party election, the political parties set the rules for who is eligible to vote their Party ballot.

• Voters affiliated with the Democratic Party vote a Democratic Party ballot.
• Voters affiliated with the Republican Party vote a Republican Party ballot.
• Voters who are not affiliated with either Party must affiliate to be eligible to vote a Party ballot.
• Voters who are affiliated with the Libertarian Party are not eligible to vote in either Party election. Libertarian Party candidates have been selected by caucus. Libertarian Party voters may be eligible to vote in a non-partisan special election, such as the sales tax election in the City of Edwardsville.

Why should I vote?

Besides all of the obvious reasons, voters should know there are some very interesting races on both Party ballots this year.

The Democratic Party ballot has:

• Two nominees for United States Senator. The contenders are Chad Taylor and Patrick Wiesner.
• Two nominees for United States Representative. The contenders are Kelly Kultala and Reginald (Reggie) Marselus.
• Three nominees for District Court Judge, Division 11. The three candidates are Timothy L. Dupree, Courtney Mikesic, and James T. Yoakum.
• Many precincts will also be electing precinct committeemen and precinct committeewomen. The Primary is the only opportunity for party voters to elect their party precinct committee.

The Republican Party ballot has:

• Four nominees for United States Senator. The nominees are Pat Roberts, D.J. Smith, Milton Wolf, and Alvin E. Zahnter.
• Two sets of nominees for Governor/Lieutenant Governor. The nominees are Sam Brownback/Jeff Colyer and Jennifer Winn/Robin R. Lais.
• Two nominees for Secretary of State. The nominees are Kris Kobach and Scott Morgan.
• Five nominees for Commissioner of Insurance. The candidates are Beverly Gossage, David J. Powell, Ken Selzer, Clark Shultz, and John M. Toplikar.
• Many precincts will also be electing precinct committeemen and precinct committeewomen. The Primary is the only opportunity for party voters to elect their party precinct committee.

For more voting information, including complete candidate lists for both parties and all races, visit our website at www.wycovotes.org, www.wycokck.org/election, or call 913-573-8500.

The announcement about the U.S. Soccer Training Complex grabbed headlines on ESPN and lots of national newspapers. Now, the Atlantic Magazine is writing a story about it and the tourism success in our community. Also, Fast Company Magazine, a popular publication about the tech world had a reporter in town recently to do a story about the Google Fiber project. The reporter spent the day with Connecting for Good and at the KCK Start-up Village. And, the Unified Government is being awarded a 2014 Best of Business Award by Ingram's Magazine.