KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Hours after the Kansas Senate voted to override Governor Laura Kelly's veto of a redistricting map, Wyandotte County residents were not happy, as the 3rd Congressional District will be split in the new map.
"It's a part of an injustice," Mary Bailey said. "I think it’s wrong, I think we should be allowed to vote ourselves and not have it forced upon us by representatives that we may or may not have voted for."
Another resident expressed concern for what the new boundaries could mean.
"I’m fearful," said fellow WyCo resident Tara Shaw. "I think any time there is splitting that happens beneath the resident’s awareness, it usually has to do with wanting political results to go one way or the other."
Livingston Walker, another Wyandotte County resident, was concerned about how the new map could impact representation in Congress.
"I think they’re unfair because it deprives people in Wyandotte County of any representation in Washington," Livingston Walker said.
The redistricting effort in Wyandotte County not only has voters concerned about this year’s midterm election, but elections in the future.
"I think it’s trying to pigeonhole us, I think it’s trying to keep us from voting for Sharice Davids, if that’s who we choose to vote for," Bailey said.
"We should be represented by our population and not just by a few privileged group of people that want to make the rules for the rest of us without our say," Shaw said.
"People north of I-70 probably won’t have any representation because they’ll probably combine south of I-70 with an area that’s more rural," Walker said.
That's how the map would be drawn, breaking up the Kansas 3rd, shifting predominantly minority votes to a mostly rural new district.
"I just wish there was something we could do to squelch this or stop this," Bailey said.
