Kansas Supreme Court Reinstates 3-Day Mail-In Ballot Grace Period for Primaries
The Kansas Supreme Court has denied Secretary of State Scott Schwab's emergency motions, allowing a lower court's injunction to stand. This means the 3-day grace period for mail-in ballots in Kansas is reinstated for the upcoming primary election. Ballots mailed…
Kansas City, MO, July 31, 2026 —
The Kansas Supreme Court has denied emergency motions filed by Secretary of State Scott Schwab, allowing a lower court’s injunction to remain in effect. This decision reinstates a 3-day grace period for mail-in ballots in Kansas, which will apply to the upcoming primary election.
Under the reinstated rule, mail-in ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day will be counted if they are received by election officials within three days after the election. This standard has been in place in Kansas for nearly a decade.
The legal challenge stems from Senate Bill 4, a piece of legislation that had previously eliminated this grace period for mail-in ballots. The recent ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court permits the underlying lawsuit, which aims to contest the provisions of Senate Bill 4, to continue in the lower courts.
The denial of Secretary of State Schwab’s emergency motions means that the process for counting mail-in ballots will revert to the previously established practice for the immediate future, pending the resolution of the broader legal case concerning the voting law.
Story summarized from the original created by Sarah Motter on www.kctv5.com, see more information here.
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