RON THORNBURGH
Secretary of State |
STATE OF KANSAS |
Memorial Hall, 1st Floor
120 SW 10th Avenue
Topeka, KS 66612-1594
(785) 296-4564
www.kssos.org
|
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Friday, July 28, 2006
Contact Information
Stephanie Wing, Public Information Officer
Office of the Secretary of State
(785) 296-8571
stephaniew@kssos.org
THORNBURGH PREDICTS LOWER THAN AVERAGE
VOTER TURNOUT
Topeka , KS – Today, Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh projected a lower than average voter turnout for the upcoming primary election.
“Kansas will see a drop in voter turnout for the primary election,” stated Thornburgh. “Throughout the state, there are very few contested races on either party’s ballot. Aside from Sedgwick, who began an expanded satellite voting program this year, advance voting is down from previous years. Couple these factors with the small number of counties that have special questions on their ballot and the result is a decrease in the number of voters going to the polls on Election Day.”
The Secretary of State’s office projected approximately 380,000 voters will turnout for the August 1 primary election. This figure includes an approximate 38% percent Republican and 18% Democratic turnout.
This year, 1,636,482 voters are eligible to participate in the primary election because only registered Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated are eligible to vote in the primary. Anyone who is registered as an unaffiliated voter can, on Election Day, choose to vote in the Democrat primary. Unaffiliated voters wanting to vote in the Republican primary will be required to affiliate with the political party by completing an affiliation form available at the polls on Election Day.
The number of voters affiliated with each recognized political party includes:
Democratic – 436,621
Libertarian – 9,011
Reform – 1,496
Republican – 757,219
Unaffiliated – 442,642
Total – 1,646,989
Election results will be posted on the Secretary of State’s website at www.kssos.org, starting at 7 p.m. on August 1. The election results will be offered on an interactive mapping system and users can access results by clicking on each county.
Primary Election Results
| Year |
Registered Voters |
Turnout |
Percent |
| 1990 |
1,166,031 |
481,788 |
41% |
| 1992 |
1,187,515 |
516,532 |
43% |
| 1994 |
1,273,648 |
458,336 |
36% |
| 1996 |
1,352,393 |
532,294 |
39% |
| 1998 |
1,493,779 |
439,463 |
29% |
| 2000 |
1,557,692 |
425,568 |
27% |
| 2002 |
1,588,859 |
410,703 |
26% |
| 2004 |
1,591,428 |
486,798 |
30% |
- Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties make up 46 percent of the total registered voters.
- The top 10 counties include Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Wyandotte, Douglas, Reno, Leavenworth, Saline, Butler and Riley. They make up 60 percent of total registered voters.
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