The Wyandotte County Election Office mailed 2,975 primary election ballots printed with an outdated return address, causing completed ballots to be routed back to voters instead of the election office.
The return envelopes listed two addresses: the correct physical address at 850 State Ave. In Kansas City, Kansas, and a P.O. box the county no longer uses. The U.S. Postal Service processed at least some ballots using the defunct address, marking them undeliverable and returning them to voters.
1,567 Wyandotte County Ballots Unaccounted for as of July 31, 2026
As of July 31, 2026, only 1,408 of the 2,975 issued ballots had been received by the election office. Ten voters had called to report that their completed ballots arrived back in their own mailboxes.
1,567 mail ballots had not yet been returned to the Wyandotte County Election Office as of July 31, 2026, per election commissioner Michael Abbott.
Election Commissioner Michael Abbott took full responsibility for the error, saying the outdated P.O. box appeared on envelopes after an address change. He said the post office has corrected its routing process and that his office is now receiving ballots.
The Kansas Democratic Party learned about the problem through social media posts showing ballots stamped “returned to sender” and filed records requests for ballot information. Political director Alex Fall said postal workers and voters flagged the issue earlier in the week.
Wyandotte County has the highest concentration of Black and brown voters in Kansas. Kansas Democratic Party chair Jeanna Repass tied the error directly to historical voter suppression.
“Not only is this neglectful and an abdication of their duty, but the extra effort and uncertainty rings of the poll taxes of the past.”
Jeanna Repass, Kansas Democratic Party Chair, July 31, 2026
U.S. Senate candidate Erik Murray held a press conference outside the election office on July 31, urging Wyandotte County voters with outstanding mail ballots to drop them off in person rather than trust the mail. Murray said the roughly 1,500 ballots still outstanding are either in transit or in voters’ hands.
The U.S. Postal Service’s Kansas office did not respond to a request for comment from the Kansas Reflector.
What You Can Do Now
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If you are a Wyandotte County voter with an outstanding mail ballot, drop it off in person at the election office at 850 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Do not mail it until you can confirm your ballot will be received. Call the office at (913) 573-2876 to verify your ballot’s status.
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Call the Wyandotte County Election Office at (913) 573-2876 and ask whether every voter whose ballot was returned to them has been individually notified, and what the deadline is for those voters to resubmit.
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Contact Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab at (785) 296-4564 and demand a review of mail ballot printing procedures across all Kansas counties before any future primary or general election.
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Contact your Kansas state legislator at kslegislature.gov/li/find_a_legislator and ask them to introduce legislation requiring independent audits when ballot printing errors affect voters in a county.
Sources
- Wyandotte mail-in ballot debacle raises questions for primary, offers opportunity for improvement — Kansas Reflector (2026-08-04)
Kansas Reflector: Wyandotte County Mail Ballots Printed With Wrong Address, Returned to Voters
Wyandotte County Election Office: Official Election Office Contact and Address Information
Kansas Secretary of State: Mail Ballot Voting Rules and Procedures
Brennan Center for Justice: Voter Suppression Through Administrative Error and Ballot Return Rules