Kansas
Kansas Republicans may have veto-proof majorities to end mail ballot grace period
What is the Kansas Supermajority? How leaders react to 2024 election
The 2025 Legislative Session begins Jan. 12 with Republicans controlling the House and Senate under Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Kansas Republican lawmakers are getting close to repealing the three-day grace period for mail ballots, a law that was broadly popular when it was enacted eight years ago.
The Republican-led Legislature has passed Senate Bill 4, sending it to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk. While the bill faces a likely veto, the GOP supermajorities appear to have the votes for an override.
Under Kansas election law, voters are allowed to advance vote by mail. As long as they are postmarked by Election Day, the ballots can be counted if they are delivered within three days.
That three-day grace period would be repealed by SB 4, meaning all mail ballots would have to arrive by 7 p.m. Election Day in order to be counted. The proposed change would take effect in 2026.
What lawmakers say about repealing grace period
That law was enacted in 2017 with bipartisan support in a near-unanimous Legislature. It had the backing of then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who said the motivation behind the law was concern about mail delays.
“Our opposition to this bill is simple: it’s wrong for the government to throw out votes for no good reason,” said Davis Hammett, president of Loud Light Civic Action, in a statement. “That is the only thing this bill would do if passed into law — throw out Kansans’ valid ballots because of slow mail. Mail delays are a government failure — a failure that this same legislature, with near unanimous support, voted to help fix in 2017 when they added additional mail processing days for ballots cast on election day to arrive.”
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said during floor debate last month that mail processing problems “have honestly only gotten worse” since 2017.
But Republicans have largely flipped their view after mail voting was politicized following President Donald Trump’s claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
Sen. Bill Clifford, R-Garden City, said that he believes Kansas has secure elections. But after previously supporting the three-day grace period, he said he changed his mind out of concerned that the perception of fraud will dampen voter turnout.
“Being a party chair in western Kansas of the Republican Party, I certainly have to deal with individuals who still think there’s fraud in Kansas elections,” Clifford said. “Although I would disagree with that, that perception is the reality for many voters.”
Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, is the chair of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. He cited a federal appeals court ruling from a different circuit than Kansas where the judges found that grace periods for mail ballots are unconstitutional. The ruling doesn’t apply to Kansas.
“That gives us additional justification for eliminating this three-day grace period,” Thompson said.
Sen. Brenda Dietrich, R-Topeka, was the only Senate Republican to vote against the bill.
“I voted no on that,” Dietrich said while speaking to Greater Topeka Partnership officials last month. “I have 22 nursing homes, and that’s too important to them.”
Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, is the chair of the House Elections Committee.
“Voter confidence that the results of our elections reflect their will, that every vote is counted, lies at the very heart of our form of government and our way of life,” Proctor said in a statement. “According to the Secretary of State, the three-day grace period disenfranchised as many as a thousand voters last year. Joining the 32 states that have decided that Election Day should be Election Day is a positive step toward restoring voter confidence and ensuring every vote is counted in Kansas.”
Rep. Alexis Simmons, D-Topeka, is a member of the House Elections Committee.
“Election misinformation is the true cause of any issue with voter confidence,” Simmons said in a statement. “This bill was passed through a campaign of election misinformation, in part because of the chairman’s continued peddling of fake data. The Secretary of State’s Office has shared the data they collected about the issues Rep. Proctor raised during this debate and there is no evidence to back up his claims.
“In fact, the data shows the opposite of what Rep. Proctor is saying. Very clearly, the 3-day mail processing period protects Kansans who rely on mail voting from being disenfranchised due to slow mail. I am particularly concerned about this due to the recent news that Elon Musk’s absurd DOGE efforts will soon be focused on slicing and dicing the USPS.”
How many mail ballots benefit from 3-day grace period?
Eliminating the three-day grace period could mean that thousands of votes are not counted in future elections.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s office provided lawmakers with data from the 2024 general election in Kansas.
There were 163,405 mail ballots sent out, of which 147,359 were returned by the voter.
Of that, 2,110 ballots were received during the three-day grace period after Election Day. Those ballots were counted.
There were 603 ballots received after the grace period. Those ballots weren’t counted. Neither were 104 ballots received after Election Day that didn’t have a postmark.
The Secretary of State’s Office remained neutral on SB 4, but provided lawmakers with a summary of arguments for and against. It also lobbied to keep ballot drop boxes as an option for voters.
Ann Mah, a former Topeka lawmaker and former member of the Kansas State Board of Education, testified about statistics she got from the Shawnee County Election Office. In the 2020 election, there were 217 mail ballots received during the three-day grace period. In the 2022 election, there were 291 ballots.
“If passed, this bill would likely disenfranchise thousands of voters across the state of Kansas,” Mah said.
Republicans likely have veto-proof majorities for expected veto
While the governor is expected to veto the bill, Republicans likely have the votes for an override.
The Senate passed SB 4 on Thursday with a 30-10 vote, which is three above the supermajority needed for an override. One Republican sided with the Democrats.
A week before, the House passed the bill 80-39. While the House was four votes shy of a veto-proof supermajority, there were four Republicans absent that day — all four of whom previously voted to repeal the three-day grace period in 2023. There were four Republicans who sided with Democrats.
In 2023, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 209 to repeal the three-day grace period, but failed to override Kelly’s veto. The governor raised concerns for voters in the military.
In her veto message, Kelly said it would “likely result in too many rural Kansans not having their votes counted in important elections. That is unacceptable. We should be doing everything we can to make it easier — not harder — for Kansans to make their voices heard at the ballot box.”
The Senate mustered 25 votes for an override, two short of a supermajority. While the override attempt did not make it to the House for a vote, that chamber had 76 votes to pass the bill, which would have been eight short of the number needed to override a veto.
Republicans tried again in 2024, but the Senate GOP sank their own three-day grace period repeal bill by anchoring down the already controversial proposal with even more controversial proposals. The additions made it a sweeping bill to ban ballot drop boxes and ban electronic voting machines, among other provisions. The bill failed to pass because several Republicans sided with Democrats.
Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
Kansas
Where to watch St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals: TV channel, start time, streaming for June 19
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The 2026 MLB season has surpassed the quarter mark, and after each team’s first 40 games, there’s plenty of reasons to tune in all summer long.
Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami has already proven doubters wrong by launching 17 home runs, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes consistently looks like the best version of himself on the mound and Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski is throwing harder than any starter in the majors.
The MLB action continues on Friday as the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Kansas City Royals.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the first pitch.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals?
First pitch between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for (ET) on Friday, June 19.
How to watch St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals on Friday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Friday, June 19, 2026, at 6:33 a.m.
- Matchup: STL at KC
- Date: Friday, June 19
- Time: (ET)
- Venue: Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium
- Location: Kansas City, Missouri
- TV: Apple TV
- Streaming: MLB.TV on Fubo
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for June 19 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) — It’s been a week since the World Cup began in Kansas City, but some local businesses aren’t feeling the expected influx in traffic and are asking for support.
On Thursday, KC2026 provided numbers for the FIFA Fan Festival and the ConnectKC26 transportation system.
From June 11 to June 16, KC2026 said more than 63,000 people attended the FIFA Fan Festival.
There are mixed results for where everyone is from:
- 52% from Kansas or Missouri
- 33% from the United States
- 15% from out of the country
As of 2 p.m. on June 17, ConnectKC26 has a total of 86,540 registered passes.
Breakdown of routes from KC2026:
- Stadium Direct: 57,302
- Regional Direct: 17,284
- Airport Direct: 11,954
As for business traffic, it depends on where you look. Some businesses in the Country Club Plaza said they’ve seen an uptick, especially on the first match day.
“We just had a really fun time with all of the fans, and I think we did a good job preparing for it,” said KC Style Haus Owner, Deserae Minor.
But many businesses are sharing their disappointment online.
‘Ghost town’
Caitlin Benedict, who owns Bisou, a European-style coffee and pastry shop, took to Instagram after shopping at a Crossroads night market.
“We are all in this together, it sucks. It was dead. It’s been dead everywhere,” said Bisou Owner, Caitlin Benedict.
After sharing her disappointment online, she saw an uptick in business on Thursday.
“It’s nice when the community can help out, and you can back up your own hometown at the same time,” said Janet Garciga, who drove in from Lee’s Summit to visit Bisou.
“I don’t want them to just come to Bisou, and I don’t want it to just be for a day. I want them to go everywhere else, and I want them to support everyone else, and consistently, especially for the next month and a half while FIFA is here,” said Benedict.
She heard from businesses experiencing the same issues in Mission, other spots downtown, Kansas City, Kansas, and Overland Park.
Down the road in the Crossroads, Buffalo State Pizza saw fans for the French match on Tuesday.
“But after that, I mean, we even close early on Tuesday because that was, it was dead,” said Buffalo State Pizza Owner, Phillippe Lechevin.
Shopping bags and matchas aren’t filling up at Dear Society either.
“The 10 years that I’ve been here in Kansas City. I have seen a lot of these big events coming into town, and we’ve been told to prepare and get ready for these huge crowds. And to be honest, after the NFL draft and after so many things that I’ve seen in 10 years, I didn’t do anything different,” said Dear Society Owner, Chanel Jezek. “I kind of knew. I had a feeling like we weren’t going to be as busy as they were projecting because they’ve done this to us before.”
Multiple factors = slow traffic
All three, Bisou, Buffalo State Pizza, and Dear Society, said there isn’t really someone to blame, but rather multiple factors that could be part of the issues.
A lot of eateries in town added a 20% automatic gratuity to bills, Bisou and Buffalo State Pizza decided not to take part, but worry that it is keeping locals away.
Visit KC projected 650,000 visitors throughout the entire tournament, and these businesses wonder if the possibility of large crowds and no parking is also keeping residents at home.
“I think we lost a lot of the regular ones. You know, the number was shown earlier back in February, you know, the 600,000 people. People who have the option to work from home, but maybe they didn’t want to deal with the traffic, since there’s no traffic. So hopefully they’re going to come back,” said Lechevin. “People may realize, actually, you know, it’s not as crazy as it is. I can still park in my regular spot and have lunch at my regular spot without being, you know, charged an extra amount.”
Jezek said she’d love to see KC2026 and FIFA add more locally owned businesses on their website so fans know where to find them.
“We are not seeing an increase in traffic on the streets. We are not crowded like they were predicting. You can still come in. You can still support your local businesses, your favorite coffee shops, your favorite places to grab your gifts, or whatever. We’re here. We’re slow. And there are more places to park,” said Jezek.
Benedict said it is an honor to have the World Cup here, but wants to see more honesty and support from leaders.
“I feel like it’s good for our city. It’s recognition. But at the same time, I want leadership to step in and say, okay, we didn’t get as many travelers as we should have,” said Benedict.
These businesses are hopeful that fans, locals, and other owners all come out and support these small shops throughout the metro during the World Cup and beyond.
“I would say just keep coming and supporting us and showing up,” said Jezek.
KCTV5 reached out to Visit KC, but did not have any numbers it could share at this time.
Mayor Quinton Lucas’ office shared the statement below after this story aired on Thursday:
“While the economic impact of a global event of this magnitude will naturally vary by business and by neighborhood, Mayor Lucas is encouraged by what he is hearing from Kansas City’s entertainment and hospitality sectors. Hotels, bars, and restaurants reported strong activity as Kansas City welcomed tens of thousands of guests for the opening match. As we look toward this weekend’s games and the remainder of the tournament, we’ll continue to highlight opportunities for our visitors and residents alike to join in the fun and celebration of this one in a generation moment.”
Businesses are hopeful that the longer the World Cup goes on, the more people will show up. KCTV5 plans to check in with these businesses throughout the tournament to see if traffic picks up.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Cooler temperatures today, but we will keep a chance of thunderstorms going in south-central Kansas this morning. One or two could be strong.
Temperatures stay cooler in southern Kansas thanks to clouds and rain in the area. Warmer temps and sunshine to the north.
Another chance of severe weather will visit Kansas this weekend, with a complex of strong storms rolling across the area Saturday night.
KSN Storm Track 3 Forecast from Meteorologist Jack Maney:
Wichita:
Today: Mostly cloudy. 60% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 80 Wind: NE 8-18
Tonight: Mostly to partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers. Lo: 62 Wind: NE/E 5-15
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 85 Wind: E/SE 5-15
Tomorrow Night: Partly to mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms. Lo: 68 Wind: SE 5-15
Wichita Weekly
Sat: Hi: 87 Lo: 73 Partly to mostly cloudy. 50% chance of showers and storms.
Sun: Hi: 92 Lo: 67 Mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms.
Mon: Hi: 82 Lo: 65 Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
Tue: Hi: 84 Lo: 66 Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
Wed: Hi: 86 Lo: 68 Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Thu: Hi: 88 Lo: 69 Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
SOUTHWEST: Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal, Greensburg, Guymon
Southwest:
Today: Partly to mostly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 84 Wind: NE/E 10-25
Tonight: Mostly to partly cloudy. Lo: 58 Wind: E/SE 5-15
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 85 Wind: SE 8-18
Tomorrow Night: Partly to mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms. Lo: 62 Wind: SE 5-15
Southwest Weekly
Sat: Hi: 92 Lo: 66 Mostly cloudy. 40% chance of showers and storms.
Sun: Hi: 91 Lo: 59 Mostly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Mon: Hi: 82 Lo: 58 Mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms.
Tue: Hi: 83 Lo: 60 Mostly to partly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms.
Wed: Hi: 85 Lo: 61 Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Thu: Hi: 89 Lo: 62 Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
NORTHWEST: Colby, Goodland, Hill City, Oberlin, McCook
Northwest:
Today: Partly cloudy to mostly sunny. Hi: 86 Wind: NE/E 5-15
Tonight: Mostly clear to partly cloudy. Lo: 61 Wind: E/S 5-15
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 86 Wind: S/SE 8-18
Tomorrow Night: Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms. Lo: 61 Wind: SE 5-15
Northwest Weekly
Sat: Hi: 90 Lo: 61 Partly to mostly cloudy. 50% chance of showers and storms.
Sun: Hi: 84 Lo: 55 Mostly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Mon: Hi: 78 Lo: 56 Mostly to partly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms.
Tue: Hi: 82 Lo: 58 Partly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms.
Wed: Hi: 85 Lo: 59 Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Thu: Hi: 87 Lo: 60 Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
NORTHCENTRAL: Salina, Great Bend, Hays, Russell, Beloit, Osborne
North Central:
Today: Mostly to partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 83 Wind: NE 8-18
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lo: 60 Wind: NE/SE 5-15
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 86 Wind: SE 8-18
Tomorrow Night: Partly to mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms. Lo: 66 Wind: SE 5-15
North Central Weekly
Sat: Hi: 88 Lo: 70 Partly to mostly cloudy. 70% chance of showers and storms.
Sun: Hi: 88 Lo: 63 Mostly cloudy. 30% chance of showers and storms.
Mon: Hi: 81 Lo: 62 Mostly to partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
Tue: Hi: 84 Lo: 64 Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Wed: Hi: 86 Lo: 66 Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Thu: Hi: 88 Lo: 67 Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
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