Kansas Appleseed v. Schwab, Douglas County District Court No. DG-2025-CV-000206, Order Granting Temporary Injunction (July 16, 2026)

Retrieved 2026-10-13. Pages 12 and 22 were read as rendered page images because the text layer interleaves paragraph numbers into sentences; the quotations from those pages are taken off the images. The order’s findings record the 2017 enactment of the three-day rule (paragraphs 29 to 31) and the rural distribution of grace-period arrivals (paragraph 64, citing Herron Decl. ¶ 57).

Quoted in the alert, verbatim: “with a three-day grace period, to allow for the counting of ballots received after Election Day if they were postmarked on or before and received within three days of the election.” (¶ 29, p. 12) · vote “of 123–1” (¶ 30, p. 12) · “was enacted to ensure that voters were not disenfranchised by mail delays beyond their control” (¶ 31, p. 12) · “the more rural a county, the greater the grace period rate in the 2024 general elections,” (¶ 64, p. 22, quoting Herron Decl. ¶ 57) · statewide grace-period rate “1.4%” (¶ 63) and “2,110 ballots in the 2024 general election” (¶ 34) · “TEMPORARILY ENJOINED from taking effect pending further order of this Court” (p. 53) · “prior law governing the receipt of advance ballots sent by mail before SB 4 remains in effect” (pp. 53 to 54) · “postmarked or are otherwise indicated by the United States Postal Service to have been mailed on or before the close of the polls” and “the last delivery of mail by the United States Postal Service on the third day following the date of the election” (K.S.A. 25-1132 (2021) as recited, pp. 53 to 54).

Added at the balance gate, verbatim: “held after SB 4 went into effect” (p. 34) · “1,008 were rejected for arriving after Election Day. Thus, approximately 1-in-30 ballots were discounted.” (¶ 73, p. 24) · “is not dispositive of the request” (p. 35, n. 3, where the court admits the Johnson County data over the Secretary’s objection) · “The Secretary provided no evidence relevant to this motion or these issues.” (¶ 55, p. 20) · “seniors and Kansans with disabilities often have no other feasible and safe option to vote”. Dr. Michael Herron’s declaration is the plaintiffs’ (their 2025-12-09 memorandum attaches it).