VOICE FOR ALL | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s Rae Daniel

As of October 31, theJohnson County Election Office reported 168,610 voters voted in advance voting. This number exceeds the first in-person votes in 2020.

Dr. Andrea Vieux is an associate professor of political science at Johnson County Community College and says it’s not surprising to see the high number of voters this election cycle.

“I would say there are probably several reasons, including the visibility of this election,” Dr. Vieux said. “When it comes to Johnson County politics, we have seen some increase in turnout over the past few cycles, for example in last year’s local elections, turnout was also higher than the normal.”

She said problems with mail-in ballots it may also have prompted more voters to decide to vote early.

Rae Daniel / KSHB

“There may be people who have already voted by mail and think it’s easier to do than early voting in person,” Dr. Vieux said. “We won’t know until Election Day how many mail-in ballots we receive, but that could also be the cause.”

Dr. Viuex says more young voters are showing interest this election cycle.

“I’m a big believer in young people going out to vote and that’s probably one of the hardest demographics to mobilize because they’re usually voting for the first time. And they haven’t gotten into the habit yet, but “What we have seen is a growing interest among young people in this election and, more generally, in elections, paying more attention to politics and policies,” said Dr. Viuex. “And I think some of the excitement about what we’re seeing is coming from young people who are voting for the first time, or who are just more engaged, and some of that turnout might be tied to that as well.”

She says while there have been some less than positive speeches, one of the positives is seeing more people voting.

“I think it’s very powerful, I mean certainly, from a political science perspective, having higher turnout is a good thing in that you feel like you’re having a more representative election “When more of your voting population votes, so when you have a lower turnout, then there is the problem of how representative this election is,” Dr. Viex said. “If participation continues to increase, which I suspect it probably will in general, that’s a good thing because it means more people are more interested.

She says the long lines we’ve seen throughout the early voting process are striking.

“The lawn chairs and the queue, we’re talking about a group of people who probably disagree on very essential things, and they’re queuing together and for the most part it’s been relatively civil and I think that’s a good thing to keep in mind for selection,” said Dr. Vieux. “Sometimes national rhetoric can spill over into local politics, but it seems to me that even though people seem to disagree about who should be president or who should be elected to the House of Representatives, people still respect the decisions and the choices of others.

While presidential elections tend to place greater emphasis on political engagement, Dr. Viuex urges voters to also pay close attention to state and local elections and candidates.

“It’s certainly good that people are interested in national politics, but the takeaway from some of these elections is that we’re going to see more interest in local races and people are going to really understand how local shopping affects their daily lives,” says Dr. Vieux. “Put aside the noise about where you think this race is trending or what is being reported and really focus, do your research, understand what the policy positions of these different candidates and political parties are – make your own choices and get out and vote because sometimes I think people think elections are predetermined and that’s not the case and turnout will really impact your life over the next four years.

For more information on early voting and sample ballots, click here.