Johnson County board to count provisional ballots

The Johnson County, Kan. Board of County Commissioners voted to count and include nearly 10,000 provisional ballots. The accepted ballots will count toward final election results which will be certified in a board meeting this afternoon.

About 10,000 more ballots will now count toward the final election results in Johnson County, Kansas.

On Wednesday morning, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners serving as the Board of County Canvassers voted to fully accept 9,764 provisional ballots, reject 2,242 provisional ballots and partially accept 1,267 provisional ballots.

Canvassing an election is the process of confirming all valid ballots are counted.

The election office will now tabulate the appropriate provisional ballots, and the Board of County Canvassers will approve and certify final election results during a meeting Thursday afternoon.

The final results could impact several close races in the county. One vote currently separates the race between Linda Featherston and Rashard Young for state representative in the 16th District.

Voters fill out a provisional ballot for a variety of reasons: if poll workers can’t find them in the rolls of registered voters; if they vote at the wrong polling place; if they requested a mail-in ballot, but then decided to fill one out in person; if they need a replacement mail-in ballot; and more.