The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Lee Johnson, a Caldwell resident and a former member of the Kansas Supreme Court.

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Dear Editor:

The legislature is once again attempting to change our rights under the Kansas Constitution through a proposed amendment on the ballot this November 3. And once again, I am encouraging everyone to vote “no.”

The current section of the constitution that the legislative majority wants to rewrite is titled “Qualifications of electors.” Its first sentence states:

“Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years and who resides in the voting area in which he or she seeks to vote shall be deemed a qualified voter.”

Quite plainly, if you are a U.S. citizen residing in Caldwell, you are a qualified voter entitled to cast your ballot in this City and County. That provision has never been interpreted to give any person who is not a citizen of the United States the right to vote. That is because appellate courts have certain canons or rules they apply when interpreting constitutional language. One such canon says that the expression of one thing implies the exclusion of other things.

In other words, expressly making U.S. citizens qualified to vote excludes non-citizens as qualified voters. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

The stated rationale for the amendment is to clarify that only a person who is a citizen of the United States is eligible to vote in this State. But the current constitutional language already accomplishes that. In other words, it ain’t broke, so don’t try to fix it. I won’t share my belief as to the ulterior motive behind the amendment. But clarification is not the reason.

Lee Johnson

Caldwell, Kans. 

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