Eleven of Sedgwick County’s regular polling locations will be unavailable for the March 3 special election regarding a City of Wichita sales tax.
According to a news release from the city, the Sedgwick County Election office informed the City on Jan. 11 of the situation, which will impact approximately 26,000 voters. In a statement Monday, county Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater explained why:
“We contract with polling places a year in advance for the two regularly scheduled elections each year. Since special elections are not part of the regular election calendar, we contacted every polling site to check their availability after we were notified in mid-December. Seven of those sites told us they were unable to be a polling site for the March election. The other four sites in Derby, Goddard, Haysville, and Maize have a minimal number of voters and is not an efficient use of taxpayer money. All voters that are impacted will receive a mail notice in advance of the special election in addition to signage at unavailable polling sites on Election Day.
Efficiently selecting polling locations is one of the challenges of administering special elections.”
Due to the need to find alternative polling locations, the cost to hold the special election will increase by $20,000. This will cover the cost of sending postcards with updated voting locations to impacted voters, bringing the total cost to hold the special election to $170,000. The City of Wichita is required to pay for the election. This will be paid with funds from the City Manager’s contingency budget.
The Wichita City Council voted on December 16, 2025, to hold a special election for the sales tax ballot question proposed by a private entity. The City of Wichita will hold a public workshop at 9 a.m. on January 27 at City Hall to discuss an administrative structure for the management and distribution of the proposed sales tax monies should the ballot initiative pass. The specific ballot language and other information on the sales tax may be found at wichita.gov/ballotquestion.
No explanation for the
Questions regarding the election or polling places may be directed to the Sedgwick County Election office. The impacted polling locations and their identified alternatives are as follows:
Calvary Baptist — 246 precinct to SE High, 338 precinct to Colonial Heights (265 voters affected)
First Baptist Haysville — 317 precinct to Colonial Heights (21 voters affected)
Goddard Pathway — 544 & 549 precinct to Evangel Presbyterian (245 voters affected)
Maize City Building — 528 precinct to Life Church (2 voters affected)
Westlink Church of Christ — 402 precinct to Westwood Presbyterian, 519 precinct to West E Free, 522 precinct to St. Elizabeth (2689 voters affected)
Heart of Christ — 104, 105, 129 and 130 precincts to Linwood, 339 precinct to New Hope (4926 voters affected)
St. Anne — 418 precinct to Alford, 419 precinct to Machinist (3163 voters affected)
Girl Scouts Office — 102 and 137 precincts to Edgemoor Rec (2822 voters affected)
Grace Presbyterian — 110 precinct to Plymouth & 128 precinct to Edgemoor (3376 voters affected)
New Life Covenant — 103 precinct to West High, 601 precinct to Riverside Christian, 614 precinct to AbilityPoint (4291 voters affected)
Holy Cross — 220 & 223 precincts to East Point Church of Christ, 228 precinct to Magdalen (4405 voters affected)
Total voters reassigned: 26205
