Voters showed up to cast ballots Tuesday morning at the Linwood Community Building in Leavenworth County, Kansas, only to be told there weren't enough ballots to go around. Dozens of people ended up waiting in line for more than an hour while election workers scrambled to get more printed and delivered to the polling site.
The shortage unfolded at the Linwood Community Building, located at 3rd and Main streets in downtown Linwood, according to KCTV5. The precinct requires two distinct state representative ballots, for House District 38 and House District 42, but election workers did not have enough House District 38 ballots on hand when polls opened, the station reported.
Voters told KSHB 41 Kansas City there simply weren't enough ballots Tuesday morning, and the Leavenworth County Election Office confirmed it had not ordered enough to meet demand at the location. The station reported that voters waited more than an hour as officials worked to fix the problem.
Scrambling to Print and Deliver More Ballots
The election office said it had printed 200 additional ballots and was transporting them to the Linwood polling location, which the station's report notes sits about 45 minutes away. At the same time, the office was working to print roughly 800 more ballots to make sure the site wouldn't run short again.
KCTV5 reported that county election officials said they regretted the administrative error and assured the public that every eligible voter waiting in line would be able to cast a ballot. The station's account describes dozens of people stuck waiting while workers arranged the fix.
What State Law Requires
Kansas law lays out clear obligations for stocking polling places with ballots. Under state statute, county election officers must cause properly printed ballots, in a number fully sufficient to meet voters' demands and needs, to be delivered to supervising judges not less than 12 hours before polls open.
KSHB said it had a news crew en route to the Linwood site and was working to determine the number of registered voters there, along with how many ballots had been ordered and how many were actually needed. The outlet said it planned to update its reporting as more information became available.
