The Secretary of State’s Office is doing things a little differently this election as they are having us count the mail in ballots that are postmarked on or before 8-6-2024 each day we receive them until Friday 8-9-2024 and then reporting our unofficial results to the state daily. We must hold a post-election audit that in turn must be approved by the state before we can hold a canvass to count the provisional ballots. The Secretary of State’s Office has until 8-12-2024 to let us know which state/federal races we must audit, so we are holding our audit on 8-13-2024. The post-election audit results will be submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office to approve the results, which could take some time as they have 105 counties to review and approve. We will be holding the canvass on 8-19-2024 where the provisional envelopes will be reviewed by the Board of County Canvassers to determine the eligibility of each ballot using the guidelines in the Kansas Election Standards manual. At the completion of the canvass, we will then have a final total of votes for each office that will then be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. A re-count may be requested by the County Board of Canvassers if they discover “manifest errors appearing on the face of the poll books of any election board, which might make a difference in the result of any election” or by a candidate. Whoever requests the recount must do so in writing and they can specify the precincts or voting areas to be recounted, may request a hand recount of the ballots, and must post a bond to cover the cost of the recount. If a recount is ordered a special election board will be appointed by the County Election Officer with the sole purpose of recounting ballots. Issues involving whether ballots should have been counted are not within the purview of the recount. After the recount is completed the Board of County Canvassers will reconvene to certify the results.