Elections :: Voters

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  Piper voters approve bond issue to build new school as district battles overcrowding | The Kansas City Star

  Three years after voting down a bond issue to construct a new high school, Piper taxpayers gave the school district the OK to build in a special election officials said was critical to the district’s future. Nearly 70 percent of voters approved a $35 million bond issue to fund the construction of a new school center for third, fourth and fifth graders on land owned by the district at 131st Street and Leavenworth Road   Read More ...

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  'Black Panther' #WakandaTheVote signs up voters at theaters | The Kansas City Star

  A new voter registration drive is going where the people, millions of people, are — movie theaters across the country showing “Black Panther.” The name of the drive is tied to the movie. #WakandaTheVote. references the fictional East African country where the movie, which has a nearly all-black cast, takes place. #WakandaTheVoteRemember you can register to vote right from your phone by texting WAKANDA to 91990   Read More ...

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  Voters will decide $25.5M bond for community college

  FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) _ Voters will decide on a proposed $25.5 million bond issue to pay for improvements at Iowa Central Community College. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the bond issue on Tuesday’s ballot would pay for work at facilities in Eagle Grove, Fort Dodge, Storm Lake and Webster City. Voters in Buena Vista, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster, and Wright counties will decide on the request   Read More ...

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  Raymore-Peculiar School District will ask voters to pass a levy increase in April | The Kansas City Star

  Voters in the Raymore-Peculiar School District will see a 75-cent levy increase on the April 3 ballot for academic enhancements, but the tax bite isn’t as big as it looks. The district’s debt-service levy is scheduled to fall by 30 cents, so the net tax increase would be 45 cents on each $100 of assessed property value, the district said. The increased cost for the owner of a $190,000 home — the average in the Ray-Pec district — is estimated at $13   Read More ...

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  Four AP voters explain why they ranked Central Florida at No. 1 | The Kansas City Star

  No surprise here, but Alabama was the No. 1 ranked team in the final Associated Press poll of the season. One thing that might be surprising: four voters picked 13-0 Central Florida as the No. 1 team in the country over the 13-1 Crimson Tide. Alabama was ranked first in the final AP poll, followed by Georgia, Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State and Central Florida   Read More ...

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  Trump dissolves voter fraud commission

  President Donald Trump dissolved his much-touted voter fraud commission on Wednesday, attributing the step to various states’ refusal to participate in the board, which was criticized as a misguided step to solve a practically non-existent problem. Trump established the commission in May, citing what he claimed were widespread accounts of falsified voting. The panel requested wide-reaching information about voters in every state, including dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers   Read More ...

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  Judge dismisses suit over Missouri’s voter ID law

  ST. LOUIS (AP) _ A lawsuit alleging that Missouri’s new voter identification law was intended to make it harder for poor and minority residents to cast their ballots has been dismissed. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem on Tuesday dismissed the suit filed in June by the ACLU and the Advancement Project on behalf of the Missouri NAACP and the League of Women Voters   Read More ...

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  Kander raises $2.4 million for his voter-rights group so far

  WASHINGTON • Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who has been crisscrossing the country to push his voting-rights organization, says he has raised roughly $2.4 million this year for that effort, and he transferred another $500,000 from a Missouri campaign account that he had established before running for the U.S. Senate. Kander's spokesman, Austin Laufersweiler, said about 46,000 people have contributed to Kander’s Missouri/politics" title="Political">Political Action Committee, Let America Vote, or to a separate non-profit under the same name   Read More ...

• Kansas reviewing security for voter registration database

  TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas election official says a multistate voter registration database the state manages is being reviewed for security concerns. The Kansas secretary of state's office manages the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program database, the Lawrence Journal-World reported . The program contains voter registration information for millions of voters in more than 25 states. It originally only had data from Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska   Read More ...

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  Kobach, Pence sued by Democrat on Trump voter fraud commission | The Kansas City Star

  A leading Democrat on President Donald Trump’s voter fraud commission is suing the group, which is led by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, alleging that it has violated federal law and that he has been frozen out from meaningful activities and information. In the lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the legal team for Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says that “despite diligent efforts to gain access, Secretary Dunlap has been, and continues to be, blocked from receiving Commission documents necessary to carry out his responsibilities   Read More ...

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  Prop P is passed by City of St. Louis voters

  ST. LOUIS – It’s election day around the St. Louis Metro Area. St. Louis city Voters are among those heading to the polls. Voters are deciding on a possible sales tax increase to benefit police and firefighters. Polls in the City of St. Louis closed at 7 pm Tuesday night. At issues is Proposition P. Prop P will a sales tax increase to provide funding for first responders in the City of St   Read More ...

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  KC voters give overwhelming approval to KCI single terminal | The Kansas City Star

  By an overwhelming margin Kansas City Voters Tuesday approved a $1 billion, single terminal at Kansas City International Airport. In the days and weeks leading up to the vote, prognosticators cast Tuesday’s special election as a close race, but predictions went by the wayside. Voters who wanted a new terminal captured a stunning 75 percent of the vote. That gives Kansas City permission to demolish KCI’s distinctive but outmoded trio of horseshoe-shaped terminals in favor of a single, privately financed $1 billion terminal   Read More ...

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  Shawnee Mission School Board Election Results: Voters oust incumbent | The Kansas City Star

  A current pastor and former teacher who spoke of rebuilding trust between school officials and the community. A civil rights attorney who has walked to Topeka to advocate for Kansas schools. A candidate with connections to education advocates and policymakers from serving as a legislative liaison for state and local PTAs. Shawnee Mission voters sent a strong message at the polls on Tuesday night, overwhelmingly voting out the race’s only incumbent and electing three first-time candidates who have promised a new direction for the school district as it seeks a new superintendent   Read More ...

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  Kansas City voters on a new KCI terminal: Yes to the 21st century | The Kansas City Star

  Congrats, Kansas City, for voting to build the new airport we need. Darryl Carter voted yes for one reason: “Because I’ve been out to the airport,’’ he said, laughing. Having seen ours and others around the country, he said, made Question 1 an easy call. Former City Councilwoman Mary Williams-Neal agreed that the need was clear: “We need a rest place for people from out of town — a place where people feel safe, and like we’re in the 21st century   Read More ...

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  Election Day: St. Louis voters today decide fate of sales tax hike

  ST. LOUIS • Voters in St. Louis will go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to approve a half-cent sales tax increase to give the city’s police officers and firefighters a raise. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Find your polling place here. The measure is known as Proposition P. If the proposition is approved, the city’s existing sales tax rate would go from 9   Read More ...

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  St. Louis City voters to decide on Prop. P

  ST. LOUIS, Mo. _Voter in the city of St. Louis City head to the polls to decide on Proposition P. If passed, the half-cent sales tax increase will provide raises for both police and firefighters in the city. Mayor Lyda Krewson and newly sworn-in Public Safety Director, Jimmie Edwards, say there is no plan b if the proposition does not pass   Read More ...

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  Voters' guide: KCI airport, where to vote, Overland Park mayor, KCK mayor, Shawnee Mission | The Kansas City Star

  Voters across the Kansas City region go to the polls Tuesday to make decisions on a slew of local candidates and issues, including mayors, school board members and a new single terminal for Kansas City International Airport. After years of study, debate and controversy, Kansas Citians will be asked to replace the three-1970s-era “horseshoes” with a new privately financed passenger terminal   Read More ...

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  Shawnee Mission voters to determine three open seats in School Board election | The Kansas City Star

  Shawnee Mission School Board candidate Heather Ousley said she was struck by a moment that happened twice during her campaign for a school board seat. Two educators called her at separate times this year and echoed the same tearful concern: That the “soul” of the school district is on the line in the upcoming Shawnee Mission Schools election to determine three open seats on the School Board   Read More ...

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  Why have Kris Kobach and the Trump voter commission faded from view? | The Kansas City Star

  What has happened to President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity? The president — convinced he actually won the popular vote in 2016 over Hillary Clinton — established the commission in May. Vice President Mike Pence is the chairman, but Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is widely considered the real leader of the group. The commission has all but disappeared publicly, and there are growing indications it will set a new standard for uselessness   Read More ...

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  'Dancing with the Stars' voters key to 2018 election

  WASHINGTON • You’ve heard of “soccer moms,” “Walmart moms” and other slices of the American electorate. Now add “Dancing with the Stars” voters to the political lexicon, thanks to Sen. Claire McCaskill. The Missouri Democrat, who faces a potentially tough re-election fight next year in a state easily won by Donald Trump in 2016, coined that phrase on “Meet the Press” with Chuck Todd last weekend   Read More ...

• city clerk's office to offer voter outreach training

  Voter outreach training Learn how to answer questions about voter ID, voter registration, absentee voting and the election process while working on voter outreach efforts with the city clerk. The session goes from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday at the City-County Building, Room 103, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For information, contact the city clerk at . Quidditch championships Teams from Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin will vie for the chance to compete for a national Quidditch title at the regional championships from 9 a   Read More ...

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  Peculiar voters to consider half-cent sales tax for its police department

  Voters in Peculiar will consider a proposed half-cent sales tax to help the city’s police department hire more officers Nov. 7 at the polls. The public safety sales tax, as its called by the city, is the only question Peculiar residents will see on the ballot for next week’s special election. The city’s board of aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance in August to place a new half-cent public safety sales tax on the ballot   Read More ...

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  Obama group files injunction against Trump Kobach voter fraud | The Kansas City Star

  A group of former Obama Administration lawyers on Wednesday moved for a temporary injunction against President Donald Trump’s voting fraud commission, saying the committee caused an "immediate blow to the proper functioning of our democracy" when it requested voter data from all 50 states without following legally mandated procedures. The motion, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by Protect Democracy Project and United to Protect Democracy, cited reports of people withdrawing their voter registration in response to the Trump commission’s request for information — proof, the motion argues, that the court should stop the Trump group from collecting the data now before it does more harm   Read More ...

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  Five things to know about Saturday’s Kansas City streetcar expansion special election

  Voters in the newly formed taxing district to extend Kansas City’s downtown streetcar system to the University of Missouri-Kansas City go to the polls Saturday to decide who will sit on the district’s board of directors. There’s just one question on the ballot asking Voters to choose up to seven directors from the 19 candidates running for the board of the Main Street Rail Transportation Development District   Read More ...

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  National Voter Registration Day across US

  UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. _Today is National Voter Registration Day. It's a day to encourage people to sign up to vote. A 90-year-old University City resident will be helping new voters register from 11 a.m. until noon at the McNair Administration Building on Groby Road. Similar voter registration efforts are planned today at University City High School, East St. Louis and Cahokia High Schools and Saint Louis University   Read More ...

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  Trump’s UN speech delivers just what his voters wanted

  In his first speech to the world’s leaders, President Donald Trump delivered the message of the voters who elected him. “The United States will forever be a great friend to the world, and especially to its allies,” Trump said Tuesday. “But we can no longer be taken advantage of or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return   Read More ...

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  Email from key player on Kobach-led voter fraud commission: Keep Democrats off panel

  A key player on President Donald Trump’s election integrity commission criticized the idea of Democrats and “mainstream Republicans” being included on the commission, saying their presence could “guarantee its failure,” according to a February email released this week. Gizmodo reported late Tuesday that commission member Hans von Spakovsky of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation was the author of the email   Read More ...

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  Kobach’s unproven voter fraud claim is challenged by fellow Trump commission members

  Kris Kobach faced backlash from two of his colleagues on President Donald Trump’s election commission Tuesday over the Kansas Republican’s recent unproven claim that voter fraud likely changed the outcome of a key U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire. Kobach, who is vice chairman of President Donald Trump’s special election integrity commission, explained the thinking behind his allegation, which brought national criticism and attention his way, during the panel’s second meeting Tuesday   Read More ...

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  Kobach-led commission considers background checks for voters. Are ballots scarier than bullets?

  The voting commission for which Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach serves as vice chair is considering a proposal to subject voters to the same background checks as gun owners. Because ballots are at least as scary as bullets. In case there’s any doubt about why the party that sees background checks for gun owners as an onerous incursion would see background checks for voters as an idea worth kicking around, the man who will present the concept to the commission on Tuesday explains it all in a PowerPoint presentation that’s been posted on the White House’s website   Read More ...

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  Illinois governor signs automatic voter registration law

  CHICAGO (AP) _ Illinois will allow automatic voter registration under a measure signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner. The Republican’s Monday signing comes a year after he vetoed a similar measure over concerns about voter fraud. Under the law eligible individuals will be automatically registered unless they opt out when they visit Secretary of State’s offices for drivers’ license services and other state agencies   Read More ...

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  Uncounted Kansas ballots fuel fears about Kobach's proposals

  A conservative firebrand promoting President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud oversees a Kansas election system that threw out at least three times as many ballots as any similarly sized state did, fueling concerns about massive voter suppression should its practices become the national standard. Only six states — all among the top 10 in population — discarded more votes during the 2016 election than the 33rd-largest state of Kansas, according to data collected by the bipartisan U   Read More ...

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  Ballot would clearly ask Kansas City voters for new airport terminal

  The Kansas City Council moved one step forward Thursday toward refining ballot language that would clearly ask voters to approve a new airport terminal, paid for solely with airport revenues. A joint council committee gave preliminary approval Thursday to proposed ballot language for a November election. The full council could give final approval Aug. 17, although it could also revise the current language   Read More ...

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  New $15 minimum wage ordinance clashes with Missouri law; legal battle likely

  Now that Kansas City Voters have overwhelmingly approved a higher minimum wage that will be forbidden by state law, what’s likely to happen? Kansas City council members and City Manager Troy Schulte offered possible scenarios Wednesday, but emphasized that city government isn’t in the driver’s seat in this process. A legal battle is likely. Voters on Tuesday approved a grass-roots petition initiative that calls for the city’s minimum wage to rise from the state-set minimum of $7   Read More ...

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  Higher minimum wage gets KC voters’ support; attention turns to statewide campaign

  Kansas City voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a measure to raise the city’s minimum wage above Missouri’s, but the immediate effect is symbolic because the state legislature has passed a law barring cities from setting their own wage floors. Meanwhile, attention turned to a separate initiative petition campaign that aims to raise the minimum wage statewide. At the polls Tuesday, 69 percent of Kansas City voters approved a question that calls for a city wage floor of $10 an hour, effective Aug   Read More ...

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  Voters approve tax questions in Clay County, Independence and Grandview

  Tuesday’s special election saw voters narrowly supporting a children’s tax in Clay County, strongly endorsing a sales tax renewal in Grandview for capital improvements and public safety, and overwhelmingly supporting a sales tax renewal in Independence for streets and bridges. In Clay County, voters approved a new tax for children’s services with 5,580 voting yes versus 5,519 voting no in unofficial final returns   Read More ...

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  In first Missouri election requiring photo ID, no problems reported so far in KC area

  Voting was going smoothly Tuesday at Kansas City polling places in the first election under Missouri’s new law requiring Voters to show a photo ID, election officials said. Election officials from Jackson, Clay and Platte counties said turnout was low and no problems had been reported with the new voter ID law. Voters approved the constitutional amendment last year. Acceptable photo IDs include a Missouri driver’s license, government-issued ID, passport or military ID   Read More ...

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  What to know before you go vote Tuesday

  Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is predicting low voter turnout for Tuesday’s election. “It’s depressing, the percentage of turnout we will see in August,” Ashcroft noted during a recent trip to Kansas City. Is it any wonder? Voting is getting tougher. If compelling voters to show up for a lightly publicized election on a random Tuesday in August weren’t enough of a challenge, Missouri is upping the degree of difficulty   Read More ...

• Kansas City voters to weigh minimum wage hike Tuesday

  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Voters in Kansas City, Missouri, will on Tuesday consider raising the city's minimum wage well above the state minimum, even though a new Missouri law forbids cities from making their own rules on the issue. The measure is among several in local elections across Missouri. The Kansas City proposal would create a minimum wage of $10 per hour on Aug   Read More ...

• Kansas City voters to weigh minimum wage hike Tuesday

  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Voters in Kansas City, Missouri, will on Tuesday consider raising the city's minimum wage well above the state minimum, even though a new Missouri law forbids cities from making their own rules on the issue. The measure is among several in local elections across Missouri. The Kansas City proposal would create a minimum wage of $10 per hour on Aug   Read More ...

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  Tuesday’s elections in the KC area include streetcar and minimum wage questions

  Tuesday is Election Day in cities on the Missouri side of the Kansas City area. While it’s a low-profile summer election, voters will decide important issues, including rail transit, minimum wage and tax questions. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. This is the first election in which Missouri’s new photo voter ID law is in effect. The law requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls to cast a ballot   Read More ...