Have you seen the ads for the “Right to Vote Amendment” that pretend the current merit-based selection system was foisted on an unsuspecting public by insiders and (gulp) lawyers?
Well, did you know that the resolution for the current merit-based selection system used now was introduced in the 1957 Kansas Senate by 29 senators, all of whom were staunch, loyal, upright Republicans?
Did you know that the resolution then passed in both the Senate and the House by the two-thirds majority dictated by law, and that Republicans enjoyed a healthy majority in both houses (just like today)?
Did you also know that, in Kansas, registered Republicans greatly outnumbered Democrats (just like today), and yet the merit-based selection amendment passed in the 1958 general election with a 60% majority?
Kansans overwhelmingly wanted the merit-based selection process in 1958. They were not hoodwinked or duped. These were your grandparents and great-grandparents, your families. They weren’t stupid. They knew a better system when they saw it, and they voted for it.
There are two main reasons that the Republican leadership is working so hard to kill the merit system we enjoy now, and they have nothing to do with your “right to vote” or “democracy.”
Here’s Senate President Ty Masterson with reason No. 1: “If we elect our Supreme Court, they won’t force you to spend money on schools.”
And Attorney General Kris Kobach gives reason No. 2 by saying that, with the direct election of Supreme Court justices, Republicans could “slowly and quietly” place anti-abortion justices on the bench who would rule accordingly.
The goal of Republican leadership is to pack the Supreme Court with paid sycophants and lackeys who will do their bidding, not uphold the law.
So don’t be fooled by the “right to vote” and “democracy” claims they’re shouting about; they’re just trying to distract you. This amendment is truly about starving public schools and enriching private and parochial schools with your tax dollars and also ending women’s reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy in Kansas.
Spread the good word: Vote “no” on the Right to Vote amendment.
Keith Richardson, Hutchinson