Kansas voters may soon confront the most significant shift to the state’s judicial system in nearly seven decades. A proposed constitutional amendment, set for the August 2026 ballot, would replace Kansas’ long-standing merit-based system for selecting Supreme Court justices with direct, partisan elections.

If approved, Kansas would join a small group of states that choose their highest-court judges on partisan ballots. Critics warn that such a move could draw political pressure into rulings on issues ranging from abortion and school funding to voting rights and redistricting, according to the Kansas Information Network.

“The partisan election process proposed in this resolution would shift the priorities of the justices on the Kansas Supreme Court to emphasize re-election in their decis

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