# Kansas to Vote on Constitutional Amendment regarding Abortion **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 26, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589 "2022-07-26T13:39:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/41 "2022-08-03T03:32:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Abolishing public referendums would be my guess Yeah, I’m not looking for more constitutional amendments in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/42 "2022-08-03T03:35:41Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > So now that they’ve gotten the smackdown, what dirty tricks will Republicans try next to thwart the will of the people? First thing, I’m guessing, is to claim that the vote is invalid because it was written in a confusing manner. See, all those no votes really meant no abortion. And never you mind that they’re the ones who intentionally wrote it to be confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/43 "2022-08-03T03:38:06Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > This was a bullshit proposition. And the GOP got smacked today. Isn’t that “GOP-smacked”? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/44 "2022-08-03T03:40:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Isn’t that “GOP-smacked” Good call. And hopefully the first of many. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/45 "2022-08-03T10:09:20Z")
Way to go, Kansas! ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/46 "2022-08-03T14:20:22Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Dems should have codified Roe v Wade when they had the opportunity. When was that, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/47 "2022-08-03T14:25:51Z")
Some stories from last night: Voter turnout was around 47%, which is unheard of for a primary in Kansas. By contrast, in the 2018 primary, which featured a highly competitive GOP governor’s race, the turnout was 27%. One polling place in Wichita had only two working machines at the end of the day. As a result, people waited in line for almost 3 hours to vote in the primary. The last voters cast their ballots at 9:45 pm; polls close at 7:00 pm. (If you’re in line at 7:00, you must be given the opportunity to vote.) There were about 451,000 votes cast in the GOP gubernatorial primary yesterday. There were 375,000 ‘Yes’ votes on the amendment question. So it would appear that at least a fair number of Republican voters voted ‘No’. In Kansas, you can only vote in the primary in the party in which you’re registered. Total votes cast in both gubernatorial primaries were 727,000. Total votes cast in the amendment question were over 908,000. Which means that the Unaffiliated voters turned out to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/48 "2022-08-03T16:21:07Z")
The theory was that they put this vote in primary election to reduce unaffiliated/Dem votes. That didn’t work, obviously. But I’m thinking the KS GOP is now very happy they did the primary because otherwise they would have had a bunch of fire-up, pissed off voters in the general election, which may have actually give the Democrats some seats (or at least state-wide offices, given gerrymandering). People will still presumably be pissed, but since the amendment went down it will probably be harder to motivate them to come out and vote again. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/49 "2022-08-03T19:03:09Z")
You don’t understand my post. > [@Railer13](#): > > This was a bullshit proposition. And the GOP got smacked today. Yes, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/50 "2022-08-03T21:35:22Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > but since the amendment went down it will probably be harder to motivate them to come out and vote again. I hope the messaging going forward is “You have the power. Vote. Them. Out.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/51 "2022-08-04T10:48:38Z")
The pro-choice people came through! This ought to encourage a great many pro-life politicos to put on their thinking caps. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/52 "2022-08-04T10:50:03Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > This ought to encourage a great many pro-life politicos to put on their thinking caps. Of course, the problem they’ll be working on is “How do we stop these people from voting?” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/53 "2022-08-04T10:50:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Of course, the problem they’ll be working on is “How do we stop these people from voting?” Perhaps. As for myself, I find people to be fairly unpredictable. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/54 "2022-08-04T12:31:02Z")
Or, “Are there other ways for us to control women?” ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/55 "2022-08-04T13:58:54Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > People will still presumably be pissed, but since the amendment went down it will probably be harder to motivate them to come out and vote again. These are the big questions. On the one hand, victory tends to breed enthusiasm, and a one-time voter is much more likely to vote again. On the other hand, while we now have strong evidence that a moderate pro-choice position is the popular one (remember, Kansas has pretty significant restrictions on abortion), we don’t yet have any evidence that conservative/moderate voters will chose a Democratic “moderate pro-choice” candidate over a Republican “full abortion ban” one. That is, folks will come out and vote against (what they perceive to be) a full abortion ban. But will they vote Democratic if that is the only way to get the same result? Or will other issues (economy, inflation, cultural proclivities) trump their abortion preferences? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/56 "2022-08-04T14:13:45Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > a one-time voter is much more likely to vote again. Voter registration jumped 1000% in Kansas after Roe was overturned. Suddenly the proposed amendment became very real. But, as you and others have stated, will the momentum carry into November? None of the 40 Kansas state senators are up for re-election this year, as all of them are up for re-election in 2024. All 125 Kansas house seats are on the ballot in November, but many GOP reps are running unopposed. Right now the Pubs hold an 86-39 advantage; I don’t see that changing much in November. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/57 "2022-08-04T15:45:19Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > This ought to encourage a great many pro-life politicos to put on their thinking caps. Let us hope that at least some of them will use the opportunity to begin to think about how their hypocritical and irrational opposition to abortion rights is damaging to women, and why they ought to stop doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/58 "2022-08-04T15:47:56Z")
They might want to talk to someone with experience in countries who really know how to control their women. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/59 "2022-08-04T15:54:01Z")
You mean like Saudi Arabia? Heck no: by the standards of the US anti-abortion-rights movement, [Saudi abortion laws are deplorably permissive.](https://qz.com/1628427/saudi-arabias-abortion-laws-are-more-forgiving-than-alabamas/) ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589/60 "2022-08-04T16:12:37Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Let us hope that at least some of them will use the opportunity to begin to think about how their hypocritical and irrational opposition to abortion rights is damaging to women, and why they ought to stop doing that. This is no place for hilarious jokes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kansas-to-vote-on-constitutional-amendment-regarding-abortion/968589.md?page=4)