Senate approves two election bills after floor debate; SB4 draws several no explanations

The Kansas Senate completed final action on two election-related bills Wednesday, voting to pass Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 6.

On a roll call conducted after clerks read the titles, the clerk announced that 29 senators voted in favor and 10 opposed. The chair declared the measures passed, saying they had reached the constitutional majority required for passage.

During the roll-call period, several senators offered explanations of their votes on Senate Bill 4. Senator Haley, identified on the floor as the senator from Wyandotte County, spoke against SB4 and said she could not support reversing a policy that had allowed a three-day postal grace period so mailed ballots could arrive in time to be counted. “We want to see every legally cast vote counted in our democracy,” she said, adding that she could not understand the rationale for eliminating the extension.

Senator Cindy Holscher, identified as a senator from Johnson County, also announced a “no” vote on SB4 and said the three-day grace period had broad bipartisan support historically; she said the change in the statute would have led to the exclusion of thousands of legally cast ballots in 2024 under slower mail-processing conditions.

Other senators signaled agreement with the explanations and joined in the record; no additional procedural motions were recorded that altered the roll-call result. The clerk closed the roll and the chair declared both measures passed.

The transcript does not include full bill texts on the floor; the clerk had read the short titles as “an act concerning elections.” The record does not show any amendments adopted during the roll-call sequence recorded in this transcript excerpt.

Notes: Final passage was announced after the roll call; SB4 generated several public explanations of a “no” vote centered on mail-ballot timing and the historic three-day grace period.