By ROBERT PIERCE

• Daily Leader

A hospital bond issue to be decided on March 2 is just the start of an election year in Seward County, and the clerk’s office recently released a list of dates for elections, voter registration and candidate filings.

Voter registration for the special election ends on Monday, Feb. 15, and advanced voting begins for the March 2 special election. Advanced voting will end at noon on March 1. Mail ballots will be sent out starting Wednesday.

Several local, state and federal offices are up for grabs in the November general election, and candidates have till noon on June 10 to file for those offices, which include:

o Seward County Commission District 2, a seat currently held by Joyce Hibler;

o Seward County Commission District 3, a seat held by Steve Eisenhauer;

o Seward County Commission District 4 held by Toby Hale. Hale has re-filed to run for the position;

o Township clerk;

o Precinct committeeman;

o U.S. Senator;

o All four U.S. representatives;

o Governor, lieutenant governor;

o Secretary of state;

o Attorney general;

o State treasurer;

o State insurance commissioner;

o All 125 state representatives;

o State board of education;

o Four Kansas Supreme Court justices;

o Nine Kansas Court of Appeals judges;

o District court judges (40 retained, 29 elected); and

o District magistrate judges (16 retained, two elected).

The primary election will take place Aug. 3, with the general election on Nov. 2.

County clerk Stacia Long said voters can go online to see if they are registered to vote.

“Voteks.org, and all they have to do is put their first and last name and date of birth,” she said. “It’ll show if they’re registered or not.”

That information can also be found at the county’s Web site at www.sewardcountyks.org.

“We have forms for the application for voting by mail in English and Spanish,” Long said. “We have Facebook for Seward County Clerk election office. It’s sewardcountyclerk/electionoffice. It’s the same for Twitter. It’s just a way that people can get notified immediately of for instance, a candidate filing for an office. Something else we’ve used it for is if the courthouse is closed for a holiday to let people know in advance. It’s just a quick way to get information from our office.”