Kansas voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed voters to directly elect state Supreme Court justices. The measure would have abolished the state’s current appointment system. The Republican-controlled Legislature placed the proposal on the ballot after several Kansas Supreme Court decisions frustrated conservatives, including a 2019 ruling that the state constitution protects abortion rights. Kansas voters upheld those protections in a separate constitutional amendment vote in 2022. Twenty-one states directly elect their supreme court justices, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.