Overview
- Kansas voters turned down the proposed constitutional amendment on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, by a wide margin, keeping the current appointment-and-retention system for the state Supreme Court.
- The rejected measure would have replaced the Missouri Plan — a nine-member commission that vets nominees and sends a shortlist to the governor — with direct partisan elections for high-court seats.
- Opponents outspent supporters by roughly two-to-one on airwaves and digital ads, with tracking firms reporting more than $12 million in campaign spending tied to the fight.
- Backers framed the change as increased voter control, but critics and some GOP figures publicly described elections as a strategy to install conservative justices and undo the court’s 2019 ruling protecting abortion rights.
- The result closes this legislative path to reshaping the Kansas court but leaves broader national questions about court politicization and outside funding in state judicial races unresolved.