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March 28, 2025 |  By: Associated Press

Voting by mail window shrunk in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas last week shrunk what already was among the nation’s shortest windows for voting by mail, arguing that problems with the U.S. Postal Service’s handling of ballots required the move. Critics called it voter suppression.

The GOP-supermajority Legislature overrode Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill eliminating an extra three days after Election Day for voters to return mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day. The change will take effect in 2026.

It is not clear how much the change will affect election outcomes. About 11% of registered Democrats cast mail ballots in Kansas in November, compared with 6% for Republicans. But the Kansas secretary of state’s office said only 2,110 of the more than 1.3 million ballots counted arrived during the grace period.