“Kansas will see a very modest voter turnout for the 2006 General Election,” said Thornburgh.  “Voter registration is up from 2002, but there are very few heated local house races or ballot measures.  There is also an incumbent governor and little activity in most statewide races.  Overall, I think this year’s election will be very similar to the 1998 general election, where we saw a 50 percent voter turnout.”

“One key difference is the level of advance voting we have been seeing-especially in rural parts of Kansas.  For the first time, we are seeing the less-populated areas of the state outpace the major cities,” said Thornburgh. 

The Secretary of State’s office predicts approximately 814,000 voters will turnout for the November 7 general election. This figure represents a 62,495 person increase from the 1998 general election turnout, the last time an incumbent Governor was on the ballot.  In that race, 751,505 went to the polls, out of 1,513,685 registered.   

As of today, 1,663,017 voters are eligible to participate in the general election.

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The number of voters affiliated with each recognized political party includes:

Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties make up 45.9 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 65 percent of total registered voters.

Election results will be posted on the Secretary of State’s website at www.kssos.org, starting at 7 p.m. on November 7.