Kansas Voters To Decide On Raffles

Kansas voters will decide in November whether to legalize charitable raffles.

The state House adopted a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution on a 102-19 vote Wednesday. The Senate adopted the same proposal last week.

If a simple majority of voters in the Nov. 4 general election approve, the constitution will be changed.

Such an amendment is necessary because the constitution originally prohibited all forms of lotteries. Under existing Kansas law, raffles are essentially private lotteries.

Kansas now has a state lottery and state-owned casinos, but they’re permitted under a 1986 amendment making an exception to the overall ban.