Electing Supreme Court Justices would be bad for Kansas public education. We are disappointed to see legislators claim they just voted to let the people decide the issue while simultaneously voting to rig the results by putting the constitutional amendment on the August primary ballot, rather than on the November general election one. August elections are lower turnout, occur when K-12 families and educators are on vacation and have a higher percentage of far-right voters.
“‘They think the voters should have a bigger role in the selection process,’ said Democratic Rep. Lindsay Vaugh of Overland Park. ‘To that, I find it ironic that we have chosen to place this constitutional amendment on a ballot of a low-turnout election.’
“Overall, primary elections tend to have significantly lower turnout than general elections. The primary in 2022 was a major exception, with nearly half of the state’s registered voters showing up to weigh in on an amendment that would have removed abortion rights from the state constitution.
“Kansas Democrats also don’t usually run as many primary races as Republicans due to fewer candidates, meaning voters from their party often have less reason to vote in a primary. That could skew the sample of voters in favor of Republicans.
“Republican leaders did not immediately respond to inquiries about the decision to hold the vote during the primary.”
Originally posted to Facebook 3/24/2025.