A new poll conducted by Fort Hays State University raises some interesting questions about how much Kansas voters know about the legislative representatives they are electing.

The poll looked at several key issues that the Kansas Legislature has considered in the current session and found that a majority of Kansans responding to the poll took a less conservative stand than the elected Legislature in almost every case. Seventy-five percent said they opposed allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public without any training or permit, a bill that won quick approval in the Legislature and already has been signed by Brownback.

More than 60 percent of respondents said they favored allowing medical marijuana use in Kansas as well as reduced penalties for marijuana possession; neither issue has made it to the House or Senate floor. The same is true of bills to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid in Kansas even though 58 percent of those polled supported that action. School finance laws are complicated, which probably accounts for the 22 percent of respondents who said they weren’t sure whether they supported a new law that will fund schools using block grants. Still, almost half of respondents (49 percent) said they opposed the new law.

Of the 519 adults who participated in the random telephone poll, 79 percent, four out of five, indicated they had voted last November. So why would they elect someone who doesn’t represent their views?

There are several possibilities. Perhaps they didn’t really look into the candidates’ positions on certain issues, or maybe the candidates misrepresented or avoided direct statements about their views. Maybe some candidates hadn’t really formed opinions on issues or changed their minds after they took office.

Whatever the reason, voters now should be able to hold their representatives accountable. They can see how legislators voted on some issues and ask them directly where they stand on issues that have failed to advance in the Legislature. Constituents can try to influence action on remaining legislation in this session and base their votes in the next election on candidates stands on specific issues.

Voters tend to think that whatever they don’t like about government, it’s not the fault of their representative, but that assumption simply may be wrong. According to Chapman Rackaway, an FHSU political science professor who helped design the poll, “It shows the disconnect between people and their elected officials.”

That’s a sad situation that only attentive Kansas voters can change.