Wichita's special election will decide whether the Ambassador Hotel developers will get to keep part of the hotel guest taxes to put back into their business, or whether that money goes back into a fund for Wichita tourism.But a lot of eyes are keeping an eye on more than just the outcome.
Tuesday's vote was also the first big test of Kansas' new voter identification law. One of the bills author's, Secretary of State Kris Kobach was in Wichita to address questions over the bill.
Tuesday's election isn't the first to require people to show ID before voting, but Wichita is the first large city to test the new law.
Kobach tells Eyewitness news, "In most cases it took less than 15 seconds for the person to walk up to the table and then walk away from the table to go cast a vote. The person hands the drivers license over, the drivers license is scanned and the data comes up."
Kobach visited several polling places to see the law in action. While he says things went smoothly, he did add 13 people, by mid-afternoon, had already had to fill out provisional ballots because they forgot to bring a photo ID.
Kobach says he's happy Wichita is using the law first on a special election, because it will better prepare people for primaries and November's general election.
