KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
Despite long lines at early voting and before polls opened on Election Day, multiple Kansas City metro counties saw a decline in overall voter turnout.
KSHB 41 News pulled the numbers from Jackson County, Kansas City, Clay County, Johnson County, Kan. and Wyandotte County.
| 2020/2024 Voter Turnout By County | Jackson County (outside KC city limits) | Kansas City | Clay County | Johnson County, Kan. | Wyandotte County |
| 2020 Registered Voters | 244,699 | 227,598 | 170, 664 | 452,706 | 91,358 |
| 2024 Registered Voters | 252,000 | 231,513 | 184, 175 | 478,877 | 94,460 |
| 2020 Ballots Cast | 197,538 | 137,773 | 127,655 | 350,750 | 57,276 |
| 2024 Ballots Cast | 194,321 | 124,906 | 131,371 | 335,159 | 49,492 |
| 2020/24 % | 80% / 77% | 60% / 53% | 74% / 71% | 77% / 69% | 62% / 52% |
All election authorities saw an increase in registered voters from 2020, but besides Clay County, there was a decrease in ballots cast.
Political science professor Dr. Debra Leiter said she thinks voter turnout was lower due to a couple of possibilities.
“My suspicion is, it has a lot to do with the perception by Democrats in Missouri that their chances of winning statewide election or for winning the electoral college were just lower,” said Dr. Leiter. “The decision to register might be easier. Maybe people are thinking about it more. Maybe they’re more activated to get registered to vote earlier. But something still has to get you to the polls at the end of the day for the election, and that motivation.”
She also spoke about the accuracy of polls and what voters should know when they see those come out before Election Day. Dr. Leiter said polls are becoming increasingly harder to get reliable answers because response rates are down and it is no longer that random.
While she said the polls were still accurate within their respective margin of error, Dr. Leiter said polls can also affect voter turnout.
“What I think we saw here was some interesting doubt about those polls and their closeness and it motivated some voters and some party voters to turn out at higher rates, and others not so much, so polling does matter,” said Dr. Leiter. “There’s evidence that suggests that if you see one party is way well ahead, or one candidate is well ahead, you’re more likely to vote for that person.”
Dr. Leiter said that for the last three presidential cycles, pollsters have overestimated Democratic support.
“Polls tell us something, but they certainly don’t tell us everything and we shouldn’t use them as the single measure of how an election is going,” said Dr. Leiter.
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