| Top Stories of the Day |
| The House Elections Committee wants to elect Governor with an Electoral College |
| Most days, I rely on BillBee and other monitoring tools to flag the most important activities of the prior day and use those to substantially prepare this newsletter. Yesterday’s action, though, goes beyond anything we’ve tracked in two years of covering Kansas politics. |
| HCR 5027 proposes replacing the direct election of Kansas Governor and Lieutenant Governor with an electoral college. Under this system, voters in each of the 40 state senate districts would effectively be choosing an elector…not a governor. Those 40 electors would then cast the actual votes for our state’s top executive office. |
| If that sounds familiar, it’s modeled on how we elect the President. But with one critical difference: each senate district’s elector would carry equal weight, regardless of population. (It’s also unconstitutional.) |
| Why That Matters |
| Kansas senate districts vary significantly in population density. Rural western Kansas districts and suburban Johnson County districts each get one elector under this proposal, despite representing vastly different numbers of voters. This is intentional. |
| The proposal also includes a failsafe for the majority party: if no candidate pair wins 21 electoral votes, the Legislature elects the governor in a joint session, with each legislator casting one vote. Given the current supermajority dynamics in Topeka, this framework would likely cement one-party control of the governor’s mansion for a generation—regardless of statewide popular vote totals. |
| The Fine Print |
| You won’t find much about HCR 5027 on the Legislature’s website yet. At the time of this writing, the draft language appears only on page 1,709 of the House daily journal. Here’s the full text: |
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Kansas, two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the Senate concurring therein:
Section 1. The following proposition to amend the constitution of the state of Kansas shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the state for their approval or rejection: Article 1 of the constitution of the state of Kansas is hereby amended by adding a new section to read as follows:”
§ 17. Electoral college for governor and lieutenant governor.(a) The governor and the lieutenant governor shall be elected by an electoral college consisting of one elector from each state senate district, for a total of 40 electors.(b) In each state senate district, the candidate pair for governor and lieutenant governor receiving the highest number of votes shall receive such district’s elector, who shall be pledged to vote for governor and lieutenant governor.(c) The candidate pair receiving a majority of the electoral votes which shall be at least 21 votes shall be elected governor and lieutenant governor. If none of the pairs receives a majority, the legislature shall elect the governor and lieutenant governor in a joint session from among the two pairs receiving the highest number of electoral votes. Each member of the legislature having one vote and a majority shall be required to elect the governor and lieutenant governor.(d) Electors shall be qualified voters of Kansas, residents of their respective senate districts and nominated in advance by political parties or independent candidate pairs in accordance with law. Electors shall meet and cast votes as prescribed by law. Any elector voting contrary to their pledge shall be subject to penalties as provided by law.(e) The legislature shall enact laws to implement this section, including procedures for certification, meetings of electors, handling of ties or vacancies and enforcement.” Kansas House Committee on Elections |
| Constitutional Questions |
| As a constitutional amendment, HCR 5027 would need two-thirds approval from both chambers before appearing on a statewide ballot. Voters would then decide. |
| But even if passed through that process, the proposal may face legal challenges. Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution guarantees states a “Republican Form of Government”—language the Supreme Court has historically avoided interpreting, but which scholars argue requires some baseline of representative democracy. Whether an electoral college that can override the popular vote meets that standard is an open question. |
| There’s also the matter of the Kansas Constitution’s own Bill of Rights, Section 1: “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Courts have historically read such provisions as foundational to equal voting power. |
| Part of a Pattern |
| HCR 5027 doesn’t exist in isolation. This session has seen an unprecedented wave of election-related legislation, much of it now law: |
| Already signed: |
SB 4: Advance ballots must arrive by 7 p.m. Election Day (no more postmark grace period)
SB 5: Blocks federal election funds without legislative approval
HB 2020: Requires DMV to send quarterly lists of noncitizen license holders to election officials
HB 2106: Bans out-of-state contributions to Kansas constitutional amendment campaigns
SB 105: Governor must pick replacements for U.S. Senate, state treasurer, and insurance commissioner from a three-name list approved by a new legislative committee |
| Moving through the House: |
| HB 2438: Limits online voter registration to .gov websitesHB 2452: Move local elections to even-numbered yearsHB 2525: Bans remote drop boxes for advance ballots |
| And that’s before counting the 23 other bills referred to the House Elections Committee this year alone. |
| What Happens Next |
| HCR 5027 is currently in the House Elections Committee. As a constitutional amendment, it faces a higher procedural bar than ordinary legislation, but in a supermajority environment that bar is not insurmountable. |
| We’ll be watching. |
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