Elections and Voting

• June 1, 2020: Last day for candidates to file at Douglas County Clerk's Office
• July 14, 2020: Last day to register to vote in the primary elections
• July 15, 2020: Advance voting by mail and in person for the primary elections begins
• July 28, 2020: Deadline to request an advance ballot to be mailed
• August 3, 2020: Advance voting closes at noon
• August 4, 2020: Primary election
• October 13, 2020: Last day to register to vote in the general election
• October 14, 2020: Advance voting by mail and in person for the general election begins
• October 27, 2020: Deadline to request an advance ballot to be mailed
• November 2, 2020: Advance voting closes at noon
• November 3, 2020: General election

Getting Registered to Vote

• KSVotes.org: Register to vote, update your registration, or check your voter registration
• Registering in Douglas County
• Advance Voting in Douglas County
• Check your voter registration status

Finding Your Polling Place

• Douglas County Polling Places
• Locate Your Polling Place

Researching Candidates and Issues

Looking for reliable information on political candidates and issues? Want to know who is running for office? Try these resources!

• Douglas County, Kansas Elections Hub: Find out who’s running, as well as your current reps, your voter registration status, and more
• BallotReady: A national resource with information on every candidate and referendum on your ballot
• Vote411: Find out which candidates and referendums will be on your ballot with this resource from the League of Women Voters 
• Lawrence Journal-World 2020 election coverage
• Lawrence Journal-World coverage of the races for sheriff and district attorney
• Lawrence Journal-World coverage of the county government

Just want to get the facts straight? You can fact check politicians on the national stage with these resources:

• FactCheck.org (funded by the Annenberg Public Policy Center)
• Politifact.org (part of the nonprofit Poynter Institute)
• Fact Checker (from the The Washington Post)

Want to follow the money? You can research contributions to state and national candidates’ campaigns with these tools:

• Kansas Campaign Finance Reports (Secretary of State’s office)
• Campaign Finance Data (Federal Election Commission)
• OpenSecrets (Center for Responsive Politics)

Local Candidate Forums

County Commission: 

• • Conversation with Democratic Candidates for Douglas County Commissioner (video), sponsored by the Douglas County Democrats
  • Democratic candidates for Douglas County Commission all voice opposition to planned jail expansion

District Attorney:

• • Douglas County district attorney candidates share views on law enforcement misconduct, needed changes
  • Candidates for Douglas County district attorney trade barbs in Democratic party forum

Sheriff:

• • Douglas County sheriff candidates share views on public transparency, training against bias-based policing
  • Douglas County sheriff candidates voice range of opinions on jail expansion, including opposition

Local Candidate Profiles:

County Commission 2nd District

• Shannon Reid, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website

• Sara Taliaferro, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website

• Nancy Thellman, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website

County Commission 3rd District

• Pam McDermott, Lawrence, Republican
• Shannon Portillo, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign Facebook page
  • KU administrator announces run for Douglas County Commission
• Ronald Thacker, Lawrence, Republican
• Karen Willey, Baldwin City, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • Planning Commissioner Karen Willey files to run for Douglas County Commission

District attorney

• Charles Branson, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign Facebook page
  • Douglas County DA seeks re-election, faces opposition for first time in 16 years

• Cooper Overstreet, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • Lawrence defense attorney Overstreet: Fairness, transparency missing from Douglas County criminal justice system

• Suzanne Valdez, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • KU law professor, prosecutor Valdez: Douglas County district attorney’s office lacks leadership, clear policies

Register of deeds

• Kent Brown, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • Douglas County’s deputy register of deeds files to run for office’s top position

• Kim Murphree, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign Facebook page
  • Record keeper for Lawrence police files to run for Douglas County register of deeds

Sheriff

• Jay Armbrister, Baldwin City, Democrat
  • Campaign website & Facebook page

• Dale Flory, Baldwin City, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • Douglas County Sheriff’s Office veteran files to run for office’s top job in 2020

• Doug Woods, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website & Facebook page

Treasurer

• Timothy Morland, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • County tax clerk files to run for treasurer position in 2020 election

• Adam Rains, Lawrence, Democrat
  • Campaign website
  • Douglas County deputy treasurer files to run for treasurer

Get Involved

Interested in being a poll worker in Douglas County? Click here for requirements and application information.

Interested in running for office in Kansas or Douglas County? Click here for forms and filing information.

Important Contacts: The Douglas County Clerk’s Office is responsible for overseeing all national, state and local elections conducted in Douglas County.

• Email: elections@douglascountyks.org
• Phone: 785-832-5267