TOPEKA, Kan. — A repeating of baseless election conspiracy theories in the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature appears to have scuttled GOP lawmakers’ efforts this year to shorten the time that voters have to return mail ballots.
The state Senate was set to take a final vote Tuesday on a bill that would eliminate the three extra days after polls close for voters to get mail ballots back to their local election offices. Many Republicans argue that the so-called grace period undermines confidence in the state’s election results, though there’s no evidence of significant problems from the policy.
During a debate Monday, GOP senators rewrote the bill so that it also would ban remote ballot drop boxes — and, starting next year, bar election officials from using machines to count ballots. Ballot drop boxes and tabulating machines have been targets across the U.S. as conspiracy theories have circulated widely within the GOP and former President Donald Trump has promoted the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
The Senate’s approval of the bill would send it to the House, but the bans on vote-tabulating machines and remote ballot drop boxes all but doom it there. Ending the grace period for mail ballots already was an iffy proposition because Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly opposes the idea, and GOP leaders didn’t have the two-thirds majority necessary to override her veto of a similar bill last year.
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Some Republicans had hoped they could pass a narrow bill this year and keep the Legislature’s GOP supermajorities together to override a certain Kelly veto.
“This isn’t a vote that’s going to secure our election,” Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, said Monday, arguing against the ban on vote-tabulation machines. “It’s going to put an anchor around the underlying bill.”
Trump’s false statements and his backers’ embrace of the unfounded idea that American elections are rife with problems have split Republicans. In Kansas, the state’s top election official, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, is a conservative Republican, but he’s repeatedly vouched for the integrity of the state’s elections and promoted ballot drop boxes.
Kansas state Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, speaks in favor of a bill that would eliminate the extra three days after an election that voters have to return mail ballots, Monday, March 4, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. Thompson chairs the Senate committee that handled the bill, and Republicans have added provisions to ban remote ballot drop boxes and vote-tabulating machines. Credit: AP/John Hanna
Schwab is neutral on whether Kansas should eliminate its three-day grace period, a policy lawmakers enacted in 2017 over concerns that the U.S. Postal Service’s processing of mail was slowing.
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More than 30 states require mail ballots to arrive at election offices by Election Day to be counted, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and their politics vary widely. Among the remaining states, the deadlines vary from 5 p.m. the day after polls close in Texas to no set deadline in Washington state.
Voting rights advocates argue that giving Kansas voters less time to return their ballots could disenfranchise thousands of them and particularly disadvantage poor, disabled and older voters and people of color. Democratic Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, of Wichita, the Senate’s only Black woman, said she was offended by comments suggesting that ending the grace period would not be a problem for voters willing to follow the rules.
“It makes it harder for people to vote — period,” she said.
Kansas state Sens. Beverly Gossage, left, R-Eudora, and Virgil Peck, right, R-Havana, confer ahead of a debate on a bill that would eliminate the extra three days after an election that voters have to return their mail ballots, Monday, March 4, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. Both senators support provisions added to the bill to ban remote ballot drop boxes and the use of machines in tabulating votes. Credit: AP/John Hanna
In the House, its Republican Elections Committee chair, Rep. Pat Proctor, said he would have the panel expand early voting by three days to make up for the shorter deadline.
Proctor said Monday that there’s no appetite in the House for banning or greatly restricting ballot drop boxes.
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“Kansans that are not neck-deep in politics — they see absolutely no issue with voting machines and, frankly, neither do I,” he said.
During the Senate’s debate, conservative Republicans insisted that electronic tabulating machines can be manipulated, despite no evidence of it across the U.S. They brushed aside criticism that returning to hand-counting would take the administration of elections back decades.
They also incorrectly characterized mysterious letters sent in November to election offices in Kansas and at least four other states — including some containing the dangerous opioid fentanyl — as ballots left in drop boxes.
Sen. Mark Steffen, a conservative Republican from central Kansas, told his colleagues during Monday’s debate that Masterson’s pitch against banning vote-tabulating machines was merely an “incredibly, beautifully verbose commitment to mediocrity.”
“I encourage us to be strong,” he said. “We know what’s right.”
The Kansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 14, 2025, results for each game:
Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 14 drawing
Midday: 9-9-6
Evening: 1-5-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
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Winning 2 By 2 numbers from Dec. 14 drawing
Red Balls: 15-24, White Balls: 02-16
Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 14 drawing
08-23-32-33-34, Lucky Ball: 15
Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
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Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Kansas Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599. For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at select Kansas Lottery offices.
By mail, send a winner claim form and your signed lottery ticket to:
Kansas Lottery Headquarters
128 N Kansas Avenue
Topeka, KS 66603-3638
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(785) 296-5700
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a claim form, and deliver the form along with your signed lottery ticket to Kansas Lottery headquarters. 128 N Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603-3638, (785) 296-5700. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Kansas Lottery.
When are the Kansas Lottery drawings held?
Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3 Midday/Evening: 1:10 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. CT daily.
2 By 2: 9:30 p.m. CT daily.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Super Kansas Cash: 9:10 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Kansas editor. You can send feedback using this form.
ESPN | Live Scoring | Tickets – Sold Out | What Color Should I Wear?
NC State Game Notes | Kansas Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team hosts 19th-ranked Kansas Saturday evening inside Lenovo Center.
The game will feature the first-ever attempt at Stripe Out in the Lenovo Center. Click this link and put your seat information in and it will tell you what color to wear.
Tipoff against the Jayhawks is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Notes
NC State dominated Liberty, 85-45, Wednesday night. Liberty entered the game as one of the best offenses in the nation through the first five weeks of the season. They led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, were second in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game and field goal percentage, fourth in three-point field goal percentage and fifth in three-pointers per game. But the Pack’s defense stopped the Liberty attack from the beginning as the Flames made a season-low six three-pointers and shot season-lows in overall field goal percentage (35.3%) and three-point field goal percentage (21.4%). Liberty also had a season-high 17 turnovers in the loss.
The 45 points for Liberty are the fewest for an NC State opponent since the Pack held Jacksonville to 43 in a 79-43 win for the Pack on Nov. 20, 2014.
Ven-Allen Lubin and Matt Able tied for the team-high in scoring in the win over Liberty with each player scoring 13 points. After scoring in double figures just once in the Pack’s first three games this season, Lubin has now scored in double figures in seven consecutive games. He has shot over 50 percent from the field in every game this season and leads the ACC and ranks 10th in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 67.5 percent.
In the last four games, Lubin is averaging 17.8 points per game and is shooting 72.5 percent (29-of-40) from the field.
NC State ranks near the top in the ACC in scoring (3rd – 88.8 ppg), field goal percentage (2nd – 50.2%), 3-point percentage (1st – 40.0%) and free throw percentage (4th – 76.3%).
Pick Your Poison: NC State has had five different players score 20-plus points in a game this season, tied with Pitt for the most in the ACC. Four Wolfpack players (Quadir Copeland, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Darrion Williams) have reached the 20-point mark in multiple games—more than any other team in the conference.
Quadir Copeland was flirting with a triple-double on Wednesday as he finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. He checked out of the game with 9:57 to play and never came back in. Over his last four games, Copeland is averaging 18.5 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 63.4 percent (26-of-41) from the field. The Philadelphia native has passed out 24 assists against just seven turnovers (3.43 asst-TO ratio) in the last four outings.
Saturday Storylines
– NC State’s 40-point victory over Liberty on Wednesday moved the Pack up 11 spots in the NET rankings to No. 30. NC State’s average opponent NET rank though 10 games is 133 which ranks as the best opponent NET ranking of any ACC team. Five of the Pack’s first 10 games this season are currently Q1 or Q2 games. NC State still has three non-conference games remaining and as of the current NET rankings will play one more Q1 game (Dec. 13 vs. Kansas) and one more Q2 game (neutral site game vs. Ole Miss on Dec. 21).
– Dating back to the 2016-17 season, NC State has a 72-3 (.960) record against non-conference opponents in regular season home games.
– Saturday’s game is the highest ranked non-conference opponent to visit Raleigh since seventh-ranked Auburn played at NC State on Dec. 19, 2018. The Pack defeated the eventual Final Four participant Tigers, 78-71, behind a then career-high 27 points from junior guard Markell Johnson. Saturday’s game against the Jayhawks is the Pack’s first home game against a ranked opponent since March 4, 2024 when NC State fell to ninth-ranked Duke, 79-64. That NC State team got revenge on Duke twice in the next three weeks, beating the Blue Devils in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament 10 days later and then knocking off Duke again in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four.
– Familiar with the Jayhawks – Saturday’s game will mark the third consecutive season that Darrion Williams has faced Kansas and he helped lead Texas Tech to wins over the Jayhawks each time. Last season he scored 14 points as Texas Tech won in Allen Fieldhouse for just the second time in school history. In the 2023-24 season, Williams was named Associated Press National Player of the Week after shooting a perfect 12-of-12 from the field on his way to a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double. He tied the Texas Tech and Big 12 records for single-game field goal percentage, being the first in Tech history and second in Big 12 history to go 12-for-12 from the field. According to ESPN Stats and Info after the game, Williams was also the first player in the last 25 seasons to have 30 points, 10 or more rebounds and shoot 100% against a ranked team.
– Ven has been unstoppable in second half of games this season: A missed shot midway through the second half against Liberty on Wednesday snapped a streak of 24 consecutive made second half field goals for Ven-Allen Lubin. His streak started with two makes against Boise State in the second half on Nov. 25, the next day he was 6-6 against Texas in the second half, he then went 3-3 at Auburn, 9-9 against UNC Asheville and made his first four second half field goal attempts against Liberty before finally missing a second half shot. In 10 games this season, Lubin is shooting 82.1 percent (32-of-39) from the field in the second half. He’s also made 14-of-his-15 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes of games this season which means his second half shooting splits are 82.1/50/93.3.
– Second Half Pack: NC State is averaging 48.8 points and shooting 55 percent from the field in the second half of its 10 games this season. In addition to Lubin’s second half efforts mentioned above, Quadir Copeland has also been fantastic in the second half as he’s shot 69.4 percent (25-of-36) in the second half of games this season. Overall the Pack’s top five scorers in the second half (Quadir Copeland, Darrion Williams, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Tre Holloman) combine to shoot 60.8 percent from the field in the second half, including 51.2 percent (44-of-86) from three-point range.
– Pack’s starting unit is giving NC State a lethal offensive punch through the first 10 games. NC State’s normal starting lineup (Quadir Copeland, Tre Holloman, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Darrion Williams) are combining to average 66.2 points per game and shooting an efficient 53.9 percent (226-of-419) from the field, including 45 percent (76-of-169) from three-point range. Four of the Pack’s starters are shooting 50.7 percent or better from the field.
– Watch the foul trouble – NC State ranks last in the ACC and 309th nationally in fouls, averaging 19.9 per game. In the Pack’s seven wins, they’ve outscored opponents by a combined 29 points at the free throw line. But in their three losses, they’ve been outscored by 20 at the line and have lost those games by a combined 26 points.
– NC State outrebounded Liberty by 11 in the win on Wednesday and is now 6-0 when it outrebounds its opponent and just 1-3 when it doesn’t this season.
– NC State outscored Liberty, 42-24, in the paint on Wednesday and has now scored 40 or more paint points in half of its games this season. For the season, NC State is averaging 35.6 paint points per game and only once this season (vs. Seton Hall) has the Pack been outscored in the paint.
– Overall through 10 games, the Pack is +112 over its opponents in paint points.
NC State series with Kansas
– Saturday will be the 15th all-time meeting between NC State and Kansas. Kansas has a 13-1 advantage all-time against the Pack and have won the last 13 games between the two programs.
– Last Meeting (December 14, 2024): NC State dug itself into an early hole and never was able to fully recover in falling to Kansas, 75-60, in Lawrence last season. NC State had battled back from an early 19-3 deficit to trail by just seven, 48-41, on a Ben Middlebrooks lay-up with 14:04 to go in the game. On the ensuing possession the Pack got a steal and had a chance to cut further into the Jayhawks’ lead, but Middlebrooks jumper was off the mark and Kansas made a three-pointer on its next possession to push the lead back into double digits and the Pack never got within single digits again.
The NC State Wolfpack (7-3) face the No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks (7-3) on Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. ET. The matchup airs on ESPN.
How to watch Kansas Jayhawks vs. NC State Wolfpack
Kansas vs. NC State odds
Odds provided by BetMGM.
Stats to know
NC State has a +161 scoring differential, topping opponents by 16.1 points per game. It is putting up 88.8 points per game to rank 23rd in college basketball and is giving up 72.7 per outing to rank 173rd in college basketball.
NC State hits 10.6 three-pointers per game (35th in college basketball) while shooting 40.0% from deep (14th in college basketball). It is making 1.4 more threes per outing than its opponents, who drain 9.2 per game while shooting 33.8%.
Kansas has a +109 scoring differential, topping opponents by 10.9 points per game. It is putting up 74.6 points per game, 243rd in college basketball, and is allowing 63.7 per contest to rank 16th in college basketball.
Kansas knocks down 7.1 three-pointers per game (250th in college basketball) compared to its opponents’ 6.6. It shoots 34.0% from deep, and its opponents shoot 24.9%.
This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
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