Voters statewide will decide November 5 whether to approve a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to eliminate a requirement for the state to adjust federal census figures when the legislature redistricts itself. It’s an unusual practice of using it’s own numbers in addition to federal census data to redraw boundaries of state legislative districts. The longstanding practice costs college communities political clout. The biggest winners from a change are likely to be Lawrence and Manhattan. The adjustment counts college students and military personnel not where they’re living but in a “permanent” home elsewhere. Kansas is among only a few states that adjust federal census figures for redistricting. Critics see the adjustment as outdated and expensive, and there’s no organized opposition to the proposed amendment.
