Vote yes on the constitutional amendment

As part of the Nov. 5 election, voters will be asked to approve a constitutional amendment eliminating the census adjustment that is performed in our state. Voting yes on this is a good idea.

State legislators say the constitutional amendment will end the practice of not counting students and out-of-state military personnel for state re-districting purposes, even though they are counted on the federal census.

The U.S. Census Bureau is responsible for counting individuals where they reside.

Kansas is the only state that adjusts census numbers - a practice that takes three to six months, involves hundreds of hours of state worker time and costs about $835,000. 

This constitutional amendment will not affect our local area very much but it will result in a much fairer representation of Douglas and Riley counties, it was reported - the location of our two biggest universities and Fort Riley.

After numerous attempts over several decades, the Kansas Legislature passed SCR1605 with bi-partisan supermajorities to eliminate a provision in the Kansas Constitution requiring the state to adjust census numbers for military personnel and college students. Now, the question is on the ballot for voters to decide.