Kansas

In Kansas and Topeka, early in-person voting outpaces last 2 presidential elections

Published

1 year ago

October 31, 2024

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In Kansas and Topeka, early in-person voting outpaces last 2 presidential elections

Advance voting locations statewide and in Topeka are experiencing a surge of people voting early in-person.

Shawnee County election commissioner Andrew Howell said that, as of around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, 17,800 voters had voted early in-person so far this election.

“We’re not quite double, but it’s — depending on which year you compare it to — it is double to some years,” Howell told The Capital-Journal.

“In a presidential (election), 10,000 to 12,000 for the entire two-week period is a fairly average number,” he said. “So I suspect that we’re going to be double what we normally see here. Over 3,000 people the first day. It’s a rare day in the past that we do 1,500 a day.”

The Shawnee County Election Office was busy Wednesday morning with early voters. One of those early voters was Gov. Laura Kelly. When voting early in other recent elections, Kelly has often been one of only a small handful of voters filling out their ballots. This time, several of the booths were filled.

“I think there’s a lot of energy and excitement around the races this year, particularly obviously at the presidential level, but I think even locally on the state level,” Kelly said of the turnout.

“I come out to vote early so that I make sure I get it done,” she told reporters. “It is fun to come to the polls on Election Day. I used to enjoy that a lot, but there’s always a chance that something — you know, ice storms or whatever — could happen. So I like to get it done.”

Early in-person voting is up in Kansas

Election offices across the state are experiencing a similar boom in in-person advance voting.

The Kansas Secretary of State’s Office reported that, through Tuesday, there had been 252,482 ballots statewide had been cast in person.

That’s 54% above 2020, when there had been 163,527 in-person advance ballots at this point. It’s 80% above 2016, when there had been 139,912 early in-person voters.

Mail voting lags behind

While in-person is up, mail voting is down locally and statewide.

“Mail is down,” Howell said. “What I don’t know if people that normally vote by mail are now just coming and voting early, I wonder.”

Mail voting has also been the subject of criticism from some Republicans after former President Donald Trump in 2020 discouraged Republicans from voting by mail. He called voting by mail “corrupt” and alleged it led to cheating. Some Kansas Republican lawmakers have sought to end the three-day grace period.

Secretary of State’s Office statistics also show that Democrats are leading Republicans in voting by mail.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Scott Schwab has been critical of the U.S. Postal Service’s handling of election mail, blaming USPS failures for disenfranchising voters in the August primary.

Kansas election offices had mailed out 161,410 advance ballots through Tuesday, of which 87,600 had already been returned, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Compared to this point in the last two presidential elections: In 2020 — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic — there had been 501,446 mail ballots sent with 279,950 returned, and in 2016, there had been 191,307 sent with 102,130 returned.

At least on the state level, the total number of early ballots cast in-person plus mail ballots that have been delivered so far in 2024 outpaces 2016 by about 41%. But it doesn’t outpace 2020, when mail voting skyrocketed during the pandemic.

So far this year, 340,082 advance ballots have been cast. At this point in 2020, there had been a total of 443,477 ballots, including both returned mail ballots and in-person voting. In 2016, there had been 242,042 in total.

‘Don’t wait’ until last minute to vote early

Voters in Kansas can vote early by mail and in-person, or they can wait until Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Early in-person voting will continue until Monday. This week, voters can go to the Shawnee County Election Office at 3420 S.W. Van Buren Street between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays. Next week, voters can go between 8 a.m. and noon on Monday.

“Please, if you’re going to vote early, don’t wait until noon on Monday, because there will be a line,” Howell said. “We’ve managed to keep it under five minutes on average. Most people it’s two minutes or less, but occasionally it’ll get a five-minute line. Monday at 11 o’clock, there will be a line, and it will be significant.”

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

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Kansas

IU football lands Kansas State transfer edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi

Published

20 hours ago

January 4, 2026

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IU football lands Kansas State transfer edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi

Indiana’s portal haul continued to grow Sunday as multiple outlets reported the addition of Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.

Osunsanmi has played in 36 games over the last four years and has 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Most of that production came over the last two seasons. He has a total of 47 QB pressures during his college career.

In 2025 he played in six games and had 20 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He suffered a season-ending injury in October.

He saw action in all 13 games in 2024 as a reserve defensive end and on special teams, recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 303 defensive snaps and 31 special teams plays.

In 2023 he saw time in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs and on special teams. He was tied for team-high honors with five tackles on kickoff coverage.

He played in four games in 2022 and preserved his redshirt.

The 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Osunsanmi has one year of eligibility remaining.

The Wichita, Kan. product (Wichita East H.S.) was regarded as the 232nd-best overall player in the nation for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.

Osunsanmi will help fill the void left by outgoing edge rushers Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley.

More transfer portal information:

For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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Kansas

Kansas football transfer portal tracker: Jan. 4 developments for KU

Published

1 day ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Kansas football transfer portal tracker: Jan. 4 developments for KU

LAWRENCE — The Division I transfer portal window for college football is open from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, and that means Sunday is another chance for the Kansas football program to shape its roster.

The Jayhawks already gained one public addition earlier this offseason in Grand Valley State transfer Jibriel Conde — whose signing was announced Dec. 4. Conde, who is making the jump up from Division II, is a 247Sports-rated three-star defensive lineman in the portal and is listed by KU as a defensive tackle. On Saturday, a number of current Kansas players — including redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Keaton Kubecka and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Blake Herold — also outlined in social media posts on X that they are locked in with the program for the 2026 season.

Marshall is set to compete for the starting quarterback job next season. Kubecka has the chance to step up into a more significant role at wide receiver. Herold is in line to be a key part of Kansas’ defensive line.

Those positives, though, don’t outweigh the fact that there has been a sizable group of players who have revealed their intentions to transfer away. Looking overall, when it comes to those whose decisions became public before and after the portal opened, the significant names to know include redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls, redshirt junior linebacker Trey Lathan and freshman quarterback David McComb. Lathan led KU in tackles in 2025.

Check in here for more updates during this transfer portal window about a KU team that finished 5-7 during the 2025 season, with transfer ratings as outlined by 247Sports.

Kansas football transfer portal additions

Jibriel Conde (3-star defensive lineman from Grand Valley State) — KU lists him as a defensive tackle

Kansas football transfer portal departures

Joseph Sipp Jr. (linebacker)

Jacoby Davis (cornerback)

Dylan Brooks (defensive end)

Jaidyn Doss (wide receiver)

Carter Lavrusky (offensive lineman)

Trey Lathan (linebacker)

Tyler Mercer (offensive lineman)

Harry Stewart III (running back)

Caleb Redd (3-star edge) — KU lists him as a defensive end

Aundre Gibson (3-star cornerback)

David McComb (3-star quarterback)

Kene Anene (3-star interior offensive lineman) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman

Laquan Robinson (3-star safety)

Jameel Croft Jr. (3-star cornerback)

Logan Brantley (3-star linebacker)

Greydon Grimes (3-star offensive tackle) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman

Jon Jon Kamara (3-star linebacker)

Lyrik Rawls (3-star safety)

Damani Maxson (3-star safety)

Jaden Hamm (tight end)

Bryce Cohoon (wide receiver)

JaCorey Stewart (linebacker)

Johnny Thompson Jr. (running back)

Efren Jasso (punter)

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

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