Kansas City Star. July 10, 2022.
Editorial: Every Kansan can vote on crucial abortion amendment. Make sure you’re registered here
The world is watching Kansas.
This is not hyperbole. On Aug. 2, Kansans will decide if yes, politicians can make a woman’s health care decisions, or no, women should be allowed to make their own choices, independent of state government.
The constitutional referendum on abortion and women’s health is the first in the nation since the U.S. Supreme Court’s troubling decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The stakes are enormous.
A yes vote on the Kansas amendment would allow lawmakers to restrict abortion more severely or ban it outright in the state — something they are likely to do, and quickly.
But Kansans cannot take part in that decision if they are not eligible to vote, or do not turn out to vote on Aug. 2 or earlier by mail or ballot. We urge everyone, in the strongest possible terms, to make sure you are registered, and have a concrete plan to cast a ballot.
The first step is to make sure your registration is current and valid. There are several ways to review your voter status, including most local election offices, but the best and easiest place is at myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView.
Checking registration is essential for people who don’t vote often, or who have moved recently. Students 18 and older are also urged to review their registration.
Not registered? Tuesday, July 12, is the deadline to do so for the August primary. You can register in person at the election office or satellite offices in many city halls. You can also register by paper application (fax and email are often acceptable — check your election office — and so is the U.S. Postal Service, but it’s pretty late for that.)
Online registration is also possible. Do so at kdor.ks.gov/apps/voterreg/
In Kansas, voters are asked to declare a party affiliation at registration, or register as unaffiliated. Party members vote in their respective primary races.
But remember this critical fact: All registered Kansas voters can vote on the abortion amendment. Let’s say that again: All registered Kansas voters can cast a ballot on the abortion question, no matter which party you belong to, or if you belong to no party at all.
Make no mistake: The abortion amendment hangs in the balance, and turnout will likely decide the issue. Supporters of the amendment insisted on an August vote because they wanted a low-turnout election, with motivated Republican voters showing up at the polls and Democrats and independents staying home.
They may have been too clever by half. There are just a few genuinely competitive Republican primaries, especially in national and statewide races. Democrats and independents, on the other hand, energized by the Supreme Court abortion decision, may be motivated to cast ballots.
Registrations are up since the court’s decision. That’s a good sign.
Registration and voting are essential in every corner of Kansas, but we think Johnson County voters have a special opportunity here.
In April, there were roughly 1.92 million Kansans registered to vote. Of those, approximately 445,000 lived in Johnson County — by far the most of any county in the state. Roughly 23% of the state’s registered voters live in Johnson County.
In 2018, Laura Kelly got 46,000 more Johnson County votes than Kris Kobach, a margin which ensured her election as governor and saved the state from disaster. Roughly 270,000 voters cast ballots in Johnson County in that race. A similar turnout could decide the abortion question.
There is simply no reason to skip this vote.
Of course, all votes (and voters) matter. We urge our friends in rural areas to register and vote, in urban areas, in college towns and county seats, in every place and community where people gather and govern themselves. Old, young, in the middle — everyone. It’s that important.
Cynics in our midst insist voting doesn’t matter. Cynical politicians want to manipulate outcomes by rigging election dates and working to suppress turnout. We cannot let them prevail.
Register to vote now, and cast your ballot when it’s time.
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Topeka Capital-Journal. July 8, 2022.
Editorial: The time for talking points has passed. It’s time for Kansas to mitigate damage from climate change.
Here in Kansas all 105 counties are under a gubernatorial drought declaration.
The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jason Tidd reports wheat farmers expect a largely drought-induced drop in yield of 100 million bushels, equating to more than $1 billion in lost production.
“Here we are in harvest and what we feared has come true,” said Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra and chair of the House Agriculture Committee. “What we saw earlier, with our winter wheat crop in many areas, the yields just aren’t there. So our hope is Mother Nature gives us good rains so we can have a good fall crop.”
We’ve seen cattle perish as a result of a heat wave last month. That same heat wave was also as a factor in the collapse of a concrete barrier wall from the aging Polk-Quincy Viaduct in Topeka.
Let’s face it, this weather isn’t the normal Kansas summer we often lament. It’s hotter. And let’s call it what it is: climate change.
Despite the fact that climate change is largely accepted as a critical threat in the scientific community, it isn’t as widely accepted in the political realm. Instead, it’s more or less debated and not combatted.
It essentially boils down to talking points.
“I don’t think the government can do much to mitigate climate,” Rahjes said. “I know a lot of people think that by throwing money or by creating certain programs, that’s been tried for a long time.”
“I think that government is probably the only institution that can probably set standards for this,” Westwood Democratic Rep. Rui Xu said. “In economics, it’s a very, very common thing that we see a lot called tragedy of the commons, where everybody is pursuing their own self-interest, but at the detriment to the group.”
Nevertheless the time to act is now. How many crops have to fail? How many more herds have to perish?
What about the Oglala Aquifer? Are we going to let it run dry?
We need to take this seriously. Talk to our experts, stakeholders and industry partners and figure out a solution that works for everyone.
Recently at federal level, Tidd reports the water crisis has boiled over, prompting the first meeting since 2013 of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry and Natural Resources.
During a hearing Colorado’s Sen. Michael Bennett focused on climate change impact on the crisis. Tidd reports Kansas’ Roger Marshall was more interested on hearing about “solutions in drought resiliency and fire mitigation.”
Time for some straight talk: We’re not all going to agree on this issue. We understand that, but the time for debates has passed. It’s time to exercise some Kansas common sense and look for solutions.
We don’t spend enough time working together to lessen our impact on the land and mitigating damage. You can apply that to a plethora of topics in Topeka and Washington, including gun control and mental health.
We think it’s time to put talking points aside and look to find practical compromise to help our communities and keep our country fed.
END
