Election commissioner asks for extra days to complete canvass after 700 provisional tallies

Election commissioner Laura told the Sedgwick County commission on March 11 that the office needs extra time to complete the final canvass because more than 700 provisional ballots must be manually tallied.

"Based on the number of provisional ballots from people showing up at the wrong polling sites, we have over 700 manual tallies that have to be tabulated," Laura said, asking that commissioners and proxies be available Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to complete the work. She said she has been coordinating with staff and was narrowing the likely timeframe to Wednesday afternoon.

A commissioner asked whether the provisional tallies were likely to flip any results; Laura said the election appears lopsided and she did not expect a reversal but emphasized the need for the additional time to complete legally required tallies and the final canvass process.

The commission did not set a new canvass date during the meeting; Laura said she would confirm the final schedule once coordination with county staff and proxies is complete.