In a landmark move that may affect workers across the state, classified employees at Kansas University have voted in favor of withdrawing from the state’s civil service system.

The vote was 623 in favor of finding an “alternative to civil service,” with 532 wishing to stay with the current system.

KU administrators now plan to forward the proposal to the Kansas Board of Regents, which may choose to include the measure in its proposals in 2004 legislative session.

Proponents have said seceding from the classified system could allow KU administrators to provide larger pay increases than the state currently does. Opponents have said they favor staying with the civil service system, which they say provides more stability than a KU-administered system.

This was the second time KU’s classified workers voted on the proposal. The first vote, in May, ended with a tie, with 545 workers voting in favor and 545 against.

For more on this story, see the 6News reports at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband’s channel 6 and pick up a copy of Thursday’s Journal-World.