When voters head to the polls for the Nov. 5 election, theyll face a question on whether to approve an amendment to the Kansas Constitution.
The question is about the 2020 census. At the heart of the issue is whether the state should count college students and military personnel at their permanent residence, rather than where they live at the moment.
A yes vote would stop the state from adjusting the Census numbers, saving an estimated $835,000.
The amendment change has broad support, with 117-7 House members and 40-0 Senators voting to place the question on the ballot. Local Rep. Kent Thompson voted in favor.
Supporters include Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who called the requirement a burdensome, antiquated and expensive mandate.
The U.S. Census Bureau is responsible for counting individuals where they currently reside. As the process now stands, the Secretary of States office receives the U.S. Census numbers and then must contact every college student and member of the military in Kansas to determine their official, permanent residence. In the past, temporary employees were hired to help with the process.
Kansas is asking the residency question in a way that contradicts the federal question, Schwab argued in a statement posted on the Secretary of States website.
Kansas is the only state that adjusts its census numbers.
The Kansas Constitution was amended in 1988 to include this adjustment as a way to slow the impact of migration from rural to urban parts of the state. Instead, the adjustment has historically had the opposite effect, Schwab argued, by marginally increasing population numbers for urban areas. The adjustment had minimal impact in 2010, affecting just 13,000 people out of 2.9 million.
Lawmakers who voted against the change said they worried it would harm population counts in rural areas.
Rep. Susan Concannon, a Beloit Republican, told The Wichita Eagle she worried rural college students would now be counted in Manhattan, Hays or Lawrence, which could change legislative representation in her district.
The adjustment after the 2010 Census brought small changes to both urban and rural counties, but was most significant in Douglas County, where the University of Kansas is located, and Riley County, which has both a military base and Kansas State University. Douglas Countys population dropped 10.97 percent and Riley Countys dropped 15.49 percent.
The change also would allow lawmakers more time to redraw district boundaries.
THOUGH the proposed constitutional amendment has received broad support and little media attention, Schwabs office has come under fire for using the official elections website to tout the benefits of voting in favor of the change.
The Wichita Eagle quoted a Wichita-area Democrat and a representative of a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group who said the secretary of states office should not advocate for policy positions on its official website.
A spokesperson for Schwabs office said attorneys for the secretary of states office approved the language posted on the website. The director of an ethics commission also said it was legal.
