Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

Once again, the Kansas State Legislature continued to pass new restrictive election laws, overriding Governor Kelly’s efforts to veto these measures. Therefore, Kansas received a C- on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Kansas Started at the Beginning of 2025

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: Yes
• Same-Day Registration: No
• Restoration of Rights: Parole and/or Probation Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
• ID Requirements: Strict Photo ID

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Kansas as of 2025, we considered the state a bottom tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other bottom tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 38th
• EPI Score (2022): 28th

2025: This Past Year

Legislative Action

The Kansas State Legislature passed two significant anti-voter anti-voter bills this past session.

• SB 4 removes the current 3-day grace period for late-arriving mail ballots by rolling back the deadline for mail ballot returns to the close of polls. This change gives voters less certainty that a mail ballot returned before election day will be counted.
• SB 5 prohibits government agencies, including election officials, from accepting or expending federal funds for election administration or “election-related activities,” including voter registration and voter assistance, unless the expenditure is authorized in an appropriation act or other state law. Although the law does include an exception for funds spent on election security, passage of this legislation makes it harder for election officials to receive federal election funding under HAVA.
• HB 2020 authorizes the secretary of state to use DMV data on licenses issued to noncitizens for list maintenance purposes and requires the secretary to flag any potential noncitizens on the voter rolls for removal by county election officers.
• HB 2016 allows active duty military members and their spouses to serve as pollworkers regardless of where they are registered to vote. The bill also revised its existing pollworker qualifications to allow anyone that is a U.S. citizen and resident of Kansas to serve as an election judge or clerk anywhere in the state. As the state has faced a pollworker shortage in past elections, this could help alleviate shortages in areas that have had trouble recruiting local volunteers.

Executive Action