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Unaffiliated voters in Kansas could be deciding factor on abortion

By Steve Kraske,

Published July 28, 2022 at 2:35 PM CDT

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Of independent voters, 70% vote consistently with one of the two major political parties, according to Patrick Miller.

Kansas has more unaffiliated voters than registered Democrats, but the state has little data about how the group will vote in the August primary.

An uptick of individuals registering as unaffiliated or independents can be attributed to distrust of political institutions, said University of Kansas political scientist Patrick Miller.

Unaffiliated voters make up the second-largest demographic of registered voters in the state of Kansas — accounting for more registered voters than Democrats.

The largely Republican state will vote whether to amend the constitutional right to abortion on Aug. 2. Kansas's large number of unaffiliated voters could be the deciding factor.

With little polling of unaffiliated voters in Kansas, Miller said it's hard to predict how the diverse group of voters will land on the issue of abortion.

Patrick R Miller, associate professor, department of political science at the University of Kansas

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Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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