Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill that would repeal the three-day grace period for mailed ballots. Because the bill passed with an apparent supermajority, the veto could get overturned.
Kelly called the bill an “attack on rural Kansans” participating in elections, and said she will reject any bill that “deprives Kansans from having their vote counted.”
“The three-day grace period for mail ballots was a bipartisan solution approved by the Legislature in 2017 to address delays in processing of mail by the United States Postal Service, particularly in rural areas. The goal was to ensure that all Kansans had their votes counted, no matter where they lived,” Kelly said in a veto message.
“Not only will removing the three-day grace period for mail ballots disenfranchise thousands of Kansas voters, but it also shows a lack of understanding of our elections in Kansas. Implementing this will create confusion among county election officials, who will have to update policies and procedures on handling of mail ballots in a higher turnout election year.”
Currently, Kansas can tally mailed ballots that arrive up to three days after Election Day if they have a postmark indicating the Post Office received it on or before Election Day. The stated reason was to accommodate for longer wait-times for deliveries, which have not improved over the past eight years.
The bill would remove the grace period, meaning any mailed ballot must arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
House Republican leaders called Kelly’s veto reckless and vowed to override it.
“We eagerly anticipate overriding the Governor’s misguided veto to safeguard our elections and ensure quick, reliable outcomes. By setting a firm election-day deadline, we reaffirm Kansans’ trust in our elections,” said House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita; House Speaker Pro Tem Blake Carpenter, R-Derby; and House Majority Leader Chris Croft, R-Overland Park, in a joint statement.
Why remove the grace period?
The grace period was uncontroversial when passed, but Republicans became increasingly skeptical of voting by mail following the 2020 election and claims of fraud by President Donald Trump.
Sen. Bill Clifford, R-Garden City, said he believes elections are secure but that it could lead to perceptions of fraud, thereby tampering voter turnout. Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, cited a federal appeals court ruling from a different circuit than Kansas where judges found grace periods for mail ballots unconstitutional — though the ruling doesn’t apply to Kansas.
Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, chair of the House Elections Committee, pointed to non-postmarked ballots getting tossed and said the bill will improve voter confidence.
“Joining the 32 states that have decided that Election Day should be Election Day is a positive step toward restoring voter confidence and ensuring every vote is counted in Kansas,” Proctor said.
Democrats and activists defend grace period
Democrats and activists said the bill doesn’t address issues of delayed mail and that it will simply throw out more votes.
“The 3-day mail processing period is a common sense solution to the ongoing issue of mail delays. This bill to repeal it was born from the conspiracy theories during the 2020 election and was only passed through the legislature this year by a widespread election misinformation campaign. The reality is that the only thing this bill does is throw out Kansans votes for no good reason,” said Melissa Stiehler, advocacy director of Loud Light Civic Action.
Rep. Alexis Simmons, D-Topeka, said the bill is the product of election misinformation, which she also blames for issues with voter confidence the bill’s proponents say it addresses.
“Very clearly, the three-day mail processing period protects Kansans who rely on mail voting from being disenfranchised due to slow mail,” Simmons said.
Kelly’s veto message highlighted rural voters, who typically have longer wait times when sending mail.
How many mail ballots arrived during grace period?
During the 2024 election, about 2,100 mailed ballots were received during the three-day grace period out of 147,359 mailed ballots total. Of those 2,100 ballots, 104 weren’t postmarked. Additionally, 603 ballots arrived after the three-day grace period.
During the 2024 primary election Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab raised concern about postmarks and mail delays disqualifying ballots. A public records request from Loud Light Civic Action revealed that 78 ballots were received within the three-day grace period without a postmark, and 697 arrived after the grace period, though the data was incomplete. The Secretary of State’s Office estimated that about 900 ballots were received late and 100 were missing a postmark.
The U.S. Post Office doesn’t typically postmark mail, but does so for ballots in elections. General elections, which are held at the same time across the U.S., are easier to prepare for than primaries that vary from state to state, according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Votes to overturn
The bill passed the Senate with a supermajority of lawmakers supporting it. In the House, it passed with 80 votes, four shy of a supermajority, but four Representatives that have voted for similar bills were absent.
It’s the Legislature’s third attempt to repeal the three-day grace period. In 2023, it failed after Kelly vetoed the bill, citing concerns about voters in the military. In 2024, it failed again after it was bundled into a bill with even more controversial proposals that included banning ballot drop boxes and electronic voting machines.
(This story was updated to add new information and because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
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