TOPEKA, KS — Today, the District Court of Douglas County granted a temporary injunction blocking Senate Bill 4, the 2025 law that eliminated Kansas’s three-day grace period for mail ballots postmarked by Election Day. The statewide injunction immediately restores the grace period that Kansas has used since 2017, ensuring that mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day will be counted if received within three days.
The court found that the plaintiffs — the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Loud Light, and three individual Kansas voters — are substantially likely to prevail on every one of their three claims: that SB 4 violates the Kansas Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process and its protections of the right to vote. The court’s decision rested on undisputed evidence that SB 4 would arbitrarily disenfranchise lawful voters based on postal delays entirely outside their control. In special elections held this March in Johnson County, after SB 4 took effect, approximately 1 in 30 mail ballots were rejected for arriving after Election Day.
The ruling comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Watson v. Republican National Committee, which rejected the argument that federal election-day statutes prohibit states from counting ballots postmarked by Election Day but received afterward. Citing Watson, the court rejected the Secretary’s argument that federal law justified SB 4. Elisabeth Frost of Elias Law Group, lead counsel to plaintiffs in this case, also successfully represented intervenor-defendants in Watson.
The following statement is attributable to the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and Loud Light:
“Today’s ruling affirms a crucial principle: Kansas voters who follow every rule must never lose their ability to participate in elections due to postal delays beyond their control. We are grateful that the court recognized the overwhelming, undisputed evidence that Senate Bill 4 would arbitrarily disenfranchise thousands of our neighbors, and acted to protect Kansans’ fundamental right to vote while this litigation continues. We will continue fighting to block Senate Bill 4 permanently.”
Statement from Elias Law Group Litigation Chair Elisabeth Frost:
“The evidence was overwhelming—and as the Court noted, undisputed —that, unless enjoined, the new law would disfranchise thousands of Kansans arbitrarily. The legislature knew this and failed to act to protect the right to vote. We are grateful that the Court faithfully applied the law and the Kansas Constitution. Nothing is more essential to a democracy than securing the right to vote—and this means not only the right to cast a ballot but to have it counted. All voters—regardless of how they vote—have the right to have their voices heard. Kansas’s elections will be fairer and more accurately reflect the view of the electorate as a result of this ruling—exactly as the Constitution requires.”
Statement from Rocky Nichols, Executive Director, Disability Rights Center of Kansas:
“For thousands of Kansans with disabilities, voting by mail is not a convenience but the only safe and accessible way to exercise their right to vote. Today’s ruling helps ensure that Kansans’ voting rights will not be stripped away by an unfair and arbitrary deadline.”
Statement from Jami Reever, Executive Director, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice:
“Thriving, inclusive, and just communities depend on every Kansan, in our smallest towns and largest cities, having an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process. Today, the court stepped in to protect the voters that the Legislature wanted to leave behind.”
Statement from Davis Hammet, President, Loud Light:
“When lawmakers should be empowering the next generation of civic leaders, they chose to undermine their constitutional freedom to vote by requiring legitimate ballots to be thrown out. We are grateful that the court has blocked this legislation from doing any further damage before the August 4th election.”
A copy of the court’s order can be found here. An overview of the case can be found here.
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