Kansas Ballot Receipt Deadline Restriction Challenge
Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice v. Schwab
A pro-voting lawsuit challenging a state law that disqualifies mail ballots that arrive after election day.
Background
Three Kansas advocacy groups are challenging Senate Bill 4, which eliminates the three-day grace period for ballot return. Since 2017, Kansas has required election officials to count mail ballots postmarked after election day as long as they were received within three days following the election. In 2025, the state enacted a law that eliminated this grace period. The plaintiffs argue that the new law will make it “virtually impossible” for voters to cast a mail ballot. The groups claim that the law violates the state constitution and asks the court to block enforcement.
Why It Matters
In the 2024 general election, over 137,000 Kansans cast a ballot by mail. In 2022, over 131,000 voters cast a mail ballot. In 2020, nearly 500,000 people voted by mail — over a third of the entire electorate.
Latest Update
- May 5, 2025: Plaintiffs filed their complaint.