U.S.·United States
Election Day: A Kansas polling place ran out of ballots, and a voter says she watched 10 to 15 people leave without voting
LINWOOD, Kan. —
| Score | Meaning | Major U.S. outlets that covered it |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Fully overlooked ← this story | 0 of 13 outlets |
| 8 | Barely covered | 1 outlet |
| 6, 5 | Lightly covered | 2 outlets (6) · 3 outlets (5) |
| 4, 3 | Covered | 4 outlets (4) · 5 outlets (3) |
| 2, 1, 0 | Widely covered | 6–7 outlets (2) · 8–10 outlets (1) · 11–13 outlets (0) |
Provisional: Google News (5 term variants for AP, Reuters and The Washington Post; 3 for the others) and Bing News (5 variants, outlet domain only) were both used. AP, Reuters and CBS News block direct site search, and the other 10 outlets’ site search only loads in a live browser. A single search engine can miss articles, so this score may go down on recheck.
Depth
Dig five layers into this story — from what happened to the full picture.
L1What happened
What happened: Leavenworth County said "a ballot shortage occurred at the Linwood Community Building involving the Linwood/Sherman H-38 ballot due to an error in the number of ballots ordered." KCTV5 reports "the precinct requires two distinct state representative ballots: House District 38 and House District 42," and "election workers did not have enough House District 38 ballots printed and on hand when polls opened Tuesday morning."
L2Who’s affected
Who it affects: voters at the Linwood polling place, "roughly 35 minutes west of downtown Kansas City" (KCTV5). "Several voters reported waiting an hour or more to cast their votes" (KCTV5). Susan Schlag "went to vote with her husband and 18-year-old son Tuesday morning," and "her son had to leave for a class at the University of Kansas, she said" (Kansas Reflector). "Schlag said she saw 10 to 15 people leave without voting" (Kansas Reflector); that is her estimate, not an official count.
L3Why it’s quiet
Why it stayed quiet: Analysis: a one-precinct problem, which state officials described as affecting "dozens of people … not hundreds" (state elections director Bryan Caskey, via the Kansas Reflector), stayed with local TV and the state's nonprofit newsroom.
L4Deeper impact
Deeper impact: the county said, "We sincerely apologize for this mistake and any inconvenience or concern it may have caused," and asked anyone who could not vote to return or "contact the Leavenworth County Clerk's Office at 913-684-0421 for assistance before 7:00 p.m." (Leavenworth County). Schlag told the Reflector: "Even if it was unintentional and it was a lack of preparedness, it still feels like voter suppression, if people aren't able to vote."
L5Full context
Full context: the delivery figures differ. Schwab "told reporters at an afternoon news briefing that 1,000 ballots had been delivered to make up for the shortage" (Kansas Reflector); KMBC reports "The Kansas Secretary of State's Office said around 900 ballots were delivered to the polling place, along with a couple hundred more for later in the day." "Poll workers told Schlag that there were only 100 paper ballots for the district, she said," and "She said there is rarely more than a 20-minute wait at that polling location" (Kansas Reflector).
You’ve reached the bottom. Read the original reporting below.
Original reporting
- Kansas ReflectorBallot shortage in Linwood causes some Kansans to leave without voting ↗
- Leavenworth CountyPress Release 2026 General Election - Linwood H-38 Ballot Shortage ↗
- KCTV5Ballot shortage causes hour-long delays at Linwood polling site in Leavenworth County ↗
- KMBCElection officials say 'ballot shortage' discovered in Leavenworth County, Kansas ↗
Status history (2 events, ET)
- O-Score check: 10 (Fully overlooked) · 0 of 13 outlets counted
- Published
Story timeline
Drag to see how this story moved: when we published, when big outlets had it, and each O-Score check. From our stored check log; times ET.
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All 2 events as a list
- 6:20 PM ET, Nov 3, 2026 · O-Score check: 0 of 13 outlets had it (score 10)
- 6:32 PM ET, Nov 3, 2026 · OVERLOOKED published this story
Trace it: 5 of 5 sourced claims on this page can be traced to a saved copy of the original report.
Election 2026Voting AccessKansas
This is an OVERLOOKED summary of the reporting above. Facts and figures come from the linked sources. Everything here is a fact unless it is labelled otherwise. Support this work.
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