For more information about voting, candidates or issues for the 2022 general election, see our past coverage of Missouri, Kansas and the metro area.
Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day in both Missouri and Kansas.
We’ll be visiting the polls, tracking updates and sharing helpful voting tips all day. Results will begin to arrive in the evening after polls close at 7 p.m.
Updates from the polls
KCPD funding: With 71% of the vote reporting, Missouri’s Amendment 4 has passed, according to the Associated Press. Missourians supported the amendment 63% to 37%. The amendment will allow the legislature to increase the funding threshold for the Kansas City Police Department.
Missouri House District 29: With 100% of precincts reporting in Jackson County, Democrat Aaron Crossley appears to have kept a Democratic hold on the 29th state House District. He beat Republican truck driver David Martin in the Independence district, 52% to 48%, according to unofficial returns.
Missouri House District 34: Democrat Kemp Strickler appears to have succeeded in flipping another seat for Missouri House Democrats. With 100% of precincts reporting, Strickler had a narrow lead in Lee’s Summit’s 34th House District, taking home 6,626 votes compared to Republican businessman J.C. Crossley’s 6,589 votes, according to unofficial returns.
Jackson County Executive: With nearly all precincts reporting, Jackson County Executive Frank White, a Democrat, has a sizable lead over Republican Theresa Cass Galvin. White has served as Jackson County Executive for six years.
Kansas U.S. House District 3
Missouri House District 14: In Platte County’s 14th State House District, incumbent Democratic Rep. Ashley Aune appears to have won reelection. With 100% of the unofficial vote total reporting, Aune took home 53% of the vote compared to 47% for Republican nominee Eric Holmes.
Local ballot questions: Kansas City voters are showing they are willing to have their city government borrow money to fund affordable housing, as well as for improvements to convention facilities, community centers, parks and pools.
With most votes counted, a proposal to borrow $50 million to create more affordable housing in Kansas City was passing with more than 80% of the votes in Kansas City south of the Missouri River, and by lesser but still substantial margins in Clay and Platte counties.
Another amendment, for a bond issue to pay for park and convention amenities, was also passing.
A generous mood also prevailed throughout Jackson County, as almost 70% of voters agreed to renew a 1/8 cent sales tax for the Community Children’s Services Fund.
Missouri House District 12: With 100% of the vote reporting in Platte County, Democrat Jamie Johnson appears to have won election to the 12th State House District. Unofficial results show Johnson leading 52% to Republican nominee Tom Hutsler’s 47%.
Johnson County
Missouri U.S. Senate race
Ahead of the election, how Schmitt would represent all parts of the state was a question mark for some and a worry for others who perceive Schmitt as being openly hostile toward Democratic-leaning areas while he was attorney general.
Kansas U.S. Senate race
8:03 p.m. Polling places have closed in Missouri and Kansas.
If you’re in Missouri, here’s what happens to your ballot now.
6:00 p.m. Polling places throughout Missouri and in Kansas’ Wyandotte and Johnson Counties close at 7 p.m. tonight. If you’re in line by 7 p.m., stay in line. Anyone who arrives before closing will be allowed to vote.
Meet a voter: Cory Bleich felt strongly about Amendments 3 and 4. They voted “yes” on legal marijuana and “no” on funding for KCPD at Green Hills Library in Platte County.
“The whole situation is very strange, having the legislature in charge (of KCPD),” Bleich said. “(I’m) trying to put wrenches in the works when possible.”
5:27 p.m. In the 14th State House District, Democratic incumbent Rep. Ashley Aune is running for reelection. She’s facing off against Republican Eric Holmes for the second time after she won the 2020 general election. Aune said in an interview with The Beacon that things like public education and reproductive rights are top issues she’s heard from voters. Read more about the district.
Meet a voter: Vicki Walsh, a Kansas City resident, voted yes on Amendment 3 for legal marijuana. That was her top priority going into the polls at Green Hills Library in Platte County.
“I just think alcohol’s worse,” Walsh said.
But when it comes to Kansas City’s ballot questions authorizing bonds to fund parks and affordable housing, she voted “no.”
“We’ve got to take care of our own (in Platte County) first,” she said. “We need it, but we only have so much money.”
Johnson County update
4:30 p.m. Johnson County Commission is the governing body for Johnson County, overseeing a budget of nearly $1.5 billion. Learn more about what your commissioners are responsible for, meet the candidates for county commission and read about the election for Johnson County’s commission chair.
Meet a voter: Kansas City, Kansas, resident Nicole Mills is one of the many voters who was redistricted away from the 3rd U.S. House district, a seat currently held by Rep. Sharice Davids, into the 2nd U.S. House district, held by Rep. Jake LaTurner.
Mills, who voted at London Heights Baptist Church, summed up her reason for voting in one word: democracy.
“We need lawmakers and state representatives that are going to accept results no matter what.”
In regards to the results of the race in her new congressional district, Mills said, “we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Kansas voting update: Kansas voters in line by 7 p.m. can vote. At a 2 p.m. press briefing in Topeka, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said voters should correct poll workers who say otherwise.
Schwab said long ballots with many judges races are slowing down both voters and technology. Ballots were so long they could not be counted by machines at three Wyandotte County polling locations, said Bryan Caskey, the state’s director of elections. Those will be hand-counted. Schwab said the Kansas Legislature should consider changes to judicial selection voting so that ballots can be shorter.
Schwab predicted vote-counting may take longer than usual tonight. “We’d rather get the right answer than the quick answer,” he said. Also due to Veteran’s Day on Friday, the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots was pushed to Monday. All ballots still need to be postmarked by 7 p.m. tonight.
3:25 p.m. KC voters will vote on a ballot question this year that would allocate $50 million to pay for affordable housing. This money is guaranteed to go towards “deeply affordable housing” and comes with no tax increase. Read more about what this means for housing in KC.
2:00 p.m. Jackson County Legislature will see high turnover this year, with at least six out of nine seats being filled with fresh faces. All eyes are on the Jackson County executive race, where Democratic incumbent Frank White Jr. is being challenged by Republican Theresa Cass Galvin. Read more about where the candidates for county executive, district legislator and at-large legislator stand on key issues.
1:45 p.m. In the 34th state House District, Democrats are trying to flip a seat from red to blue. Democrat and former Hallmark Cards data analyst Kemp Strickler is running against Republican HVAC business owner J.C. Crossley. Read more about the race underway in Lee’s Summit and Greenwood.
Meet a voter: Montira Reyes, a clinical health care administrator, said the U.S. Senate race is what brought her to the polls. She said voting is a duty.
“I went with the person that has the same ideas as me. The same morals as me,” she said at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lee’s Summit.
She said she supported legalizing marijuana.
“I am all for it. I’m all for change. It’s 2022,” she said. “I’m for the positives, and the freedom.”
Meet a voter: Nick Acree, a project director from Lee’s Summit, said voting in federal races and in support of Amendment 3 brought him to the polls.
He voted for Democrats for state legislative races at his polling place, Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lee’s Summit.
“I don’t recognize all the names, but I do recognize some. And from what I know on their political stances and some of the extremes, I definitely voted against them more than I voted for the other candidate,” Acree said, adding that candidate stances on abortion were what he mainly voted against.
Meet a voter: Esteban Ossa is an electrical engineer from Lee’s Summit. He said judicial races were his top priorities this election.
“The judges were a big issue. There are a lot of them,” Ossa said. About the composition of the state legislature, he said, “I hope it changes. I want to stir things up.”
Ossa, who voted at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lee’s Summit, said he is conservative when it comes to what goes in the state constitution, which is why he was opposed to Amendment 3.
“From a constitutional point of view, I like things to stay the same,” he added.
1 p.m. Some of the districts north of Kansas City are among the handful of competitive races left in Missouri after the GOP-controlled legislature redrew state legislative district lines in the spring. In the 12th District, which includes more of southern Platte County after redistricting from the 2020 Census, Democrat Jamie Johnson is hoping to flip the seat. It overwhelmingly voted for former President Donald Trump under old district lines in 2020. Read more about the dynamics at play in Kansas City’s Northland.
Meet a voter: Cat and Tatem Patet are sisters in Clay County. Tatem is politically active but one year too young to vote, so she came along to see the process at MCC Maple Woods.
“I’m not old enough to vote yet, but if I were, (women’s rights) would be the main thing that concerns me because I think the state of women’s rights right now is frightening,” Tatem said. “I would want to do anything I could to rectify that.”
Cat said she voted “for the people.” Women’s rights was front of her mind, and she also voted for Amendment 3.
“I don’t want my sister to grow up in a world that’s totally different from the one I grew up in,” she said.
12:00 p.m. In the 29th state House District in Independence, Democrat Aaron Crossley, a social worker, is trying to hold onto a blue seat in his run against Republican David Martin. The seat has been vacant since early this year, when former Rep. Rory Rowland left the legislature to become the mayor of Independence. Read more on the dynamics at play in the 29th District.
Meet a voter: Rossana Serres is a new citizen from Venezuela who was voting for the first time in the U.S.
She said her polling place — Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence — was in need of bilingual volunteers and that she’d like to see more diversity when she’s voting.
She said concern for her community was at the top of her mind.
“The people that have been supporting us— if you ask me, it’s all blue,” she said of which candidates she supports.
She said she supports Amendment 3 because she wants access to marijuana for medical reasons.
“Medicine in this country is very expensive. I think we need huge reform,” she said.
11:37 a.m. Kansas City is one of few cities in the country that is mandated by state law to spend a percentage of its budget to fund its police department. A “yes” vote on Amendment 4 would allow the state legislature to increase the minimum funding floor for the Kansas City Police Department without reimbursement from the state.
The amendment made it onto the ballot as a result of a bill sponsored by state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican up for reelection this year. Mayor Quinton Lucas strongly opposes the measure. Read more about how the KCPD budget works.
Meet a voter: Leemu Masah, who voted at MCC Maple Woods in Clay County, said she felt it was important to vote yes on Amendment 3 to keep Missouri consistent with other states that have legalized recreational marijuana. She voted “no” on Amendment 4.
“I feel like KCPD gets enough money,” Masah said. “We don’t need to feed more money to them.”
Meet a voter: Gary Hood, a retiree from Independence, said his concern about the direction of the country brought him to the polls at the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence.
“The economy, the border, Afghanistan, all of these issues are really impacting the country,” Hood said.
He voted for Republican candidates, he said, and against Amendment 3.
Hood said he supports Amendment 4 because he thinks the police need more funding to deal with crime.
11:00 a.m. Missourians are deciding whether or not to become the 20th state to legalize recreational marijuana. Amendment 3 would transition currently operating medical dispensaries and other facilities to recreational dispensaries by granting 80% of licenses to already-licensed facilities. It would also create a microbusiness program for those historically most impacted by the nation’s marijuana laws and expunge records for some marijuana-related offenses.
Read more about the proposed changes and why many cannabis advocates are opposed.
Meet a voter: Cheryl Little lives in Independence and is retired. Voting at the Midwest Genealogy Center, she said she hopes to see control of Congress change parties nationally, but doesn’t want things to get too polarized at the state level.
She said inflation and immigration are top issues for her this year.
“I’d like to see Missouri stay somewhat conservative. When I say conservative I’m more of a moderate. I don’t think extremes get you anywhere. You have to be able to talk to people,” she said.
“Right now, they’re so consumed by their viewpoints that the good of the country, the good of the state, is lost,” she added.
Meet a voter: “I feel really strongly about our Democratic processes. I want those to be front and center,” Christy Fielder, a General Motors employee from Independence said at Midwest Genealogy Center. “Protecting the right to vote is the most important thing to me.”
She said she thought Missouri’s new photo ID provision was unnecessary, but didn’t think it would necessarily suppress the vote.
Fielder said she voted for Amendment 3, because she thinks too many people have been hurt by laws against marijuana. She voted against Amendment 4.
Meet a voter: Matthew Brown came out to Westport Presbyterian Church in midtown Kansas City to vote blue, but he also wants to support Amendment 3 as a member of the cannabis industry.
“I came out specifically for the amendment to legalize recreational cannabis, as well as making sure that Democrats have votes,” Brown said. “I have seen it legalized in Washington state and all of the positive changes that that brings. I want to see that here.”
10:00 a.m. The Missouri chapter of the NAACP is offering free or discounted Lyft rides up to $50 per person to the polls.
Meet a voter: Lora Murphy votes every year. This year, she came out to Westport Presbyterian Church in midtown Kansas City to vote “yes” on Amendment 3 and “no” on Amendment 4.
“It irritates me that we do not have local control of our police department and that the legislature feels that they can interfere whenever they want,” Murphy said.
9:30 a.m. A new Missouri voting law requires voters to have a state-issued photo ID to vote at the polls. If you don’t have one, you can cast a provisional ballot in-person on Election Day, or return to your polling place with a state-issued form of ID before the polls close.
Meet a voter: “Preserving democracy and doing things despite all odds, which is truly important. It makes me tear up,” said Jane Ehinger, who voted at Westport Presbyterian Church in midtown Kansas City. “Because sometimes it’s really easy to feel like all hope is lost. And no, we just have to keep on doing it.”
8:45 a.m. The Missouri Voter Protection Coalition is running a hotline if voters encounter questions or issues at the polls on Tuesday. The number is 866-687-8683.
The effort includes local attorneys responding to the hotline and advocating on behalf of voters with election officials; nonpartisan monitors at polling places throughout the state to assist voters and provide information; and volunteers monitoring social media to track election-related misinformation and provide accurate information to voters, according to a release from the group.
7:55 a.m. Missouri polling places opened at 6 a.m. today and will remain open through 7 p.m.
Kansas polling places must remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but may open as early as 6 a.m. and close as late as 8 p.m. Wyandotte and Johnson County polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Beacon would like to hear about your voting experiences. Go to our tip line to let us know how things went for you.
Candidates, issues and voting
Missouri general election
Voting and ballot guides
- What’s on your Missouri ballot for the Nov. 8 midterm election?
- “Let our people vote”: Sheriff won’t let voter registration groups inside Jackson County jail
- “It’s a free speech issue”: A new Missouri law has voter registration groups on edge
- Crucial dates leading up to Missouri’s 2022 general election
- Civic engagement groups sue over Missouri photo ID requirement and voter outreach rules
- You now need a photo ID to vote in Missouri. Here’s how to get one
- Will Missouri’s abortion ban change the outcome at the polls this year?
Amendments
- What’s actually inside the amendment to legalize marijuana in Missouri?
- Kansas City’s police budget can be a mystery — even to the mayor
U.S. Senate
- What’s in store for Kansas City if Eric Schmitt is Missouri’s next U.S. senator?
- Trudy Busch Valentine teams up with downballot Democrats in an attempt to bolster party’s power statewide
Statehouse
- Can Democrats gain ground with two currently vacant Missouri House seats in Eastern Jackson County?
- These two Kansas City Northland races could make a dent in the Missouri legislature’s power balance
Local elections
- Here’s why all eyes are on the Jackson County executive race on Nov. 8
- This ballot question would fund ‘deeply affordable housing’ in KC
- Live in KC, Independence or Lee’s Summit? Here are your Jackson County Legislature candidates
- Who will Jackson County voters pick to represent them in the County Legislature?
- What the 2022 election means for Platte County
Campaign finance
- Who spent what: Missouri’s campaign finance reports, from U.S. Senate to the campaign for legal weed
Constitutional convention
Kansas general election
Voting and ballot guides
- Voting in the Kansas general election? Here’s what to expect when casting your ballot
- How to research federal and state candidates on the November ballot in Wyandotte County
- How to research federal, state and local candidates on the Johnson County ballot in November
Judicial branch
Amendments
Local elections
- The winner of this election will lead the Johnson County Commission
- Here are your candidates for the Johnson County Commission this November
