Vote NO on August 4

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 Kansas voter, whether registered with a political party or Unaffiliated, will have at least one important issue on their August 2026 Primary ballot: 

Whether to keep the Kansas Supreme Court appointment process as it is (Vote NO), or whether to change it to an election for KS Supreme Court justices (Vote YES). 

𝗪𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗡𝗢 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲.

Legislators who don’t like it when the Kansas Supreme Court requires them to uphold the state Constitution voted in 2025 to put a Constitutional Amendment on the August 2026 primary ballot. If passed, this amendment would make the position of Kansas Supreme Court Justice an elected position, instead of the current process, in place since 1958. Like the “Value Them Both” amendment that failed in Aug 2022, Republican sponsors of the plan strategically placed the amendment on the August primary ballot - when statistically more Republicans will vote, overall turnout is lower, and voters are often more conservative. 

If passed, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙆𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙨, since a 2014 decision by the KS SC is the only reason legislators have funded public schools to the court-mandated minimum of “adequacy.”

Here are some questions we asked to help decide which vote to recommend:

How does the process currently work?

From Ballotpedia: “the seven justices are selected through assisted appointment and 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 at the next even-year general election following their appointment and every six years thereafter. The nominating commission is responsible for providing the names of nominees to the governor, who must then select a justice from that list. The commission is made up of nine members, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵, and one additional lawyer who serves as chairperson. The nominating commission was adopted in 1958.”

This method is also used by 20 other states.

You’ll read or hear from proponents of the change that “only lawyers choose the KS Supreme Court justices” which is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲, as you can read above.

Who supports making the change?

To put an amendment on the ballot requires a 2/3 majority of legislators to vote for it. The amendment passed both chambers of the KS legislature in 2025 with the minimum number of votes possible. That is, if ONE KS Senator or ONE KS Representative who voted “yes” had voted “no” - it would NOT be on the ballot.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗩-𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗞𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗬𝗘𝗦 on the amendment?

Croft, Turner, Tarwater, VanHouden 

(Voting NO: Featherston, Poskin, Meyer, Osman, McDonald)

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗩-𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗞𝗦 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗬𝗘𝗦?

Warren and Rose. (Holscher voted NO.)

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) - the dark money, anti-tax, anti-government organization, and its Kansas lapdog Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) - also dark money, have advocated for the change.

KS AG Kris Kobach lobbied for it.

BEWARE! When we did an internet search for “Kansas Supreme Court amendment” the TOP link (sponsored) was to a newly-formed “official website” promising “unbiased info.” A brief read of the source didn’t appear to be what it claimed. 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀: known news outlets, organizations you know and trust, for example.

Why do they want the change?

We can think of a couple Kansas Supreme Court decisions in recent years that the current legislative majority didn't like. Justices who don't have to worry about winning a popularity contest (i.e. an election) can better focus on upholding the Constitution.

When is the election?

Despite attempts to move elections for the stated purpose of increasing voter turnout (all to even years, spring to fall dates, for example), the backers of this constitutional amendment placed it on the August primary ballot. Low voter turnout is the norm in August elections. Voters without party affiliation may not even know they need to vote.

Why would backers choose to put this amendment on the August ballot, knowing that?

Hmmm. 

What does the KS Supreme Court have to do with Blue Valley Schools?

Public schools in Kansas would NOT be adequately funded if the KS Supreme Court had not required the KS Legislature to follow the state constitution and fund them. Lawsuits have been filed over inadequate funding, and the Supreme Court decided in favor of the plaintiffs, forcing the legislature to fund schools.

If justices ran for office, there would be campaign finance limits, right?

Think about the influence of dark money groups in state legislative elections; even School Board elections! Do we want Americans For (their own) Prosperity pouring hundreds of thousands - maybe millions - of dollars into the election of KS Supreme Court justices? Do we want justices beholden to campaign contributions? We’ve posted about BV-area legislators who vote as they’re told by AFP and the NRA. We don’t think court decisions should be made that way.

Is it only public school funding decisions that make certain legislators want to change the Court’s makeup?

No. Voting rights, civil rights, reproductive rights, healthcare issues, taxation questions, and more can be drastically altered by court decisions. 

I thought I’ve voted for KS Supreme Court Justices before?

YOU HAVE! After being seated, Justices must stand for re-election the next even year and then every 6 years. 𝗜𝗳 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗞𝗦 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 

We’ll talk more about this over the coming months. We wanted to give you a heads up now, to be able to discuss it with your neighbors, and to be aware of how your legislators voted on this issue in 2025. Read more at links in comments.