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Primary Voters: Bring An I.D. And Vote Along Party Lines

Carla Eckels

The primary election is underway in Sedgwick County. Polls open at 6:00 a.m. Residents will be able to cast their ballots along the two major party lines.

Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman says voters who already belong to a political party must vote that party. She says residents who are unaffiliated can go to the polls and declare at that time.

"You either have to affiliate with the Democratic or the Republican party to get their ballot. Those are the party rules--we don't set those rules, so I like to clarify that," Lehman says. "Then once they affiliate with one of those parties, they can just vote normally on a machine or paper, however they choose."

Lehman says residents should bring a government issued ID to vote. She says it's important to verify your polling place because some locations have changed. Sample ballots and polling locations for Sedgwick County are provided online. Or you can use the Voter Information Project tool for your area.

Polls are open in Wichita until 7:00 Tuesday evening.

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.