Kansas Republicans To Cut Ballot Return Timeline
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A key Kansas state Senate committee advanced a controversial proposal last week that would require all mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day — cutting three days from the existing deadline of the Friday after Election Day. Previously, Kansas required all ballots to be postmarked by Election Day but allowed three more days for the ballot to be received to account for mail delays or other issues. If the bill, Senate Bill 307, passes, voters who postmark their ballots on time will not have the ballot counted if it does not arrive at the county election office by Election Day.
Over 32,000 valid ballots were received in the three days following Election Day in Kansas last year — all of which would not be counted under the new bill. Democratic state Sen. Ethan Corson, who is focused on election reform, said of the push for new election restrictions: “I think the reason that people are concerned about the integrity of our elections is not because there’s been any problems, not because there’s any evidence that there are problems. It’s that we have people who, for political advantage, are deliberately misinforming voters about the security of our elections.” The proposal now moves to the full state Senate for debate.