In Kansas, the odd-numbered year elections are generally for city commission/council and local school board elections. Since I live in a rural precinct, I have no city elections on my ballot, and the school board positions are low-key campaigns, if there’s even a contested seat.
Well, now I know there’s something on the ballot this year.
The Legislature has submitted a constitutional amendment in this election dealing with how the state legislative districts are drawn. It is current practice to count transient residents (i.e. college students and members of the military on short-term assignment) as residents of their ‘permanent’ location, and not as residents where they are currently located. The amendment does away with that.
According to the Journal-World article linked above, no other state adjusts Census numbers in this manner. Further, federal law disallows using adjusted figures in congressional districting.
The amendment had only 7 dissenters in the House and passed unanimously in the Senate. Unlike some other potential constitutional amendments, this one should be an easy pass – but I still got to vote on it.
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