To the editor:

In this busy harvest season, we want to remind Kansans to vote in the Nov. 5 election. Municipal elections play a key role in determining leadership in your community, but voter participation is at disturbingly low levels.

As part of the election, voters will be asked to approve eliminating the census adjustment. After numerous attempts over several decades, the Legislature passed SCR1605 with bipartisan supermajorities to eliminate a provision in the Kansas Constitution requiring the State to adjust census numbers for military personnel and college students. 

The adjustment is antiquated, burdensome and expensive. Even though the Census Bureau is responsible for counting individuals where they reside, the adjustment requires the Secretary of State to also contact military personnel and college students to determine their official residence in a manner contradictory to the Census Bureau. 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 approximately $835,000.

First, we ask you to vote on Nov. 5. Second, please consider supporting this measure to help make better use of state resources.

Thank you for the honor of serving as your Kansas Secretary of State. If we can be of assistance to you, please call 785-296-4575 or email Scott.Schwab@ks.gov. 

Scott Schwab

Kansas Secretary of State