Advance voting for the Aug. 7 primary election started Wednesday.
Voters may mark ballots in the Allen County Clerk Sherrie Riebel’s office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, or they may request a ballot to complete at home.
Riebel said about 180 ballots were put in the mail Wednesday, mainly for people who have permanent requests on file, and should reach voters’ homes today or Friday.
All ballots must be returned to the clerk’s office by the time polls close on Aug. 7. Voting places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day.
Locally, races for two seats on the county commission, sheriff and state legislative seats will be decided on the Republican side. Democrats have no races.
For the commission, District 2, first-term incumbent Rob Francis is opposed by Tom Williams, who is completing his second four-year term as sheriff. The District 3 seat is open — first-term incumbent Gary McIntosh did not file for re-election — with Jim Talkington, an Allen Community College trustee, and Don Bauer seeking the nomination.
Candidates for the District 9 Kansas House position are Ed Bideau, a Chanute attorney, Judy Brigham, former Iola city administrator, and Raymond “Bud” Sifers, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2010.
Two House candidates, unopposed in their parties, will be on ballots in the east part of the county. Bob Grant, Democratic incumbent from Frontenac, will square off against Jeff Locke, Arma Republican, in the Nov. 6 general election.
Seeking the GOP nomination for District 12 Kansas Senate are Caryn Tyson, a House member from Parker, and John Coen, Ottawa banker.
Some Iola voters also will decide whether two city councilmen, Ken Rowe and Kendall Calahan, will be recalled. A petition drive earlier in the year put the two first-term council members on the ballot.
