The Kansas Supreme Court denied both of Secretary of State Scott Schwab's emergency motions on July 31, ending the litigation over the state's mail-ballot grace period four days before Kansans vote [1].
The rule that governs Tuesday's primary is the standard that existed before the legislature changed it: a mail ballot postmarked by Election Day counts if it reaches the county election office within three days after [1].
Getting to that sentence took three courts in just over two weeks. Kansas SB 4, enacted in 2025, eliminated the three-day window and required mail ballots to be in hand by 7pm on Election Day [1]. Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom III enjoined SB 4 on July 16. The Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed that injunction on July 28. Schwab then went to the state Supreme Court asking for two things at once: permission to leapfrog the case out of the regular appellate process and straight to the high court, and an order suspending the injunction while his appeal proceeded. The court denied both motions on July 31 [1].
The majority's reasoning was about the route, not the destination. "The Secretary has failed to credibly convince a majority of this court that this case, in its current posture, should bypass the regular appellate review process established by our Legislature," the court wrote [1].
Two justices dissented. KCTV5 characterized their objection as a warning that thousands of ballots would be counted before the courts had resolved the underlying constitutional question. We have not seen the dissent's own text, so it is described here as the outlet described it rather than reproduced as the justices wrote it [1].
What the denial does and does not do is worth keeping straight. It settles the rule for August 4, because no court can now intervene before polls open. It does not decide whether SB 4 is constitutional. The case goes back onto the ordinary appellate track, where the state can still win, which means the three-day window Kansas votes under on Tuesday is a window the legislature already voted to close and a court has only temporarily reopened.
For a voter, the practical effect is narrow and specific. A ballot mailed with an Election Day postmark that arrives on August 5, 6 or 7 is counted. Under SB 4 as written, that same ballot would have been rejected for arriving after 7pm on August 4 [1]. In close primary fields, that is the population of ballots the three rounds of litigation were fought over.
