Missouri map confusion leaves Jackson County, local election officials in limbo
After two landmark rulings from the Missouri Supreme Court over the state’s gerrymandered electoral maps, local election boards are waiting for guidance from the state on how to proceed for the quickly approaching August primary.
They need to finalize ballots for that election by the end of the month, which could get confusing.
On Tuesday, the state’s high court ruled unanimously that the contentious map Republican lawmakers passed last fall does not violate the Missouri Constitution. The justices also ruled that the map is not currently blocked by a citizen-led effort to put the map to a statewide vote.
However, in that second ruling, the court left open the possibility that map could be blocked in the near future, if Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins officially certifies the more than 305,000 signatures submitted to prompt a referendum on the ballot.
As soon as he does that, the new map would be blocked, which leaves election officials planning for August in a tricky spot.
The uncertainty around which voter map to use has left county election boards in a state of gridlock.
The Jackson County Election Board will refrain from finalizing voter maps for the next county election, an Aug. 4 series of primaries, until a decision is available from the Secretary of State, Tammy Brown, Republican Director of the Jackson County Election Board, told The Star Wednesday.
The state-level legal issue around the election maps precludes the JCEB from finalizing ballots for the upcoming August general election at all, Brown said. So far, she said, state officials have declined to reach out with clarification or plans.
“We’re just hanging tight,” Brown said. “We have gotten no communication from anybody at this point. So right now we are just in a holding pattern. We’re not doing anything.”
The Aug. 4 ballot in Jackson County will include primary elections for Jackson County Executive — the county’s top seat — along with primaries for seats on the Jackson County Legislature, among other races.
Ballots are sent to absentee voters, including military members serving overseas, six weeks before an election, which requires ballots to be finalized eight weeks before polls open.
May 26 marks 10 weeks before the August primary in Jackson County. If state officials do not make a final decision before then, Brown said, the county election board will refrain from taking any action for two more weeks, until June 9.
“There can be changes made up until the eight-week mark,” Brown said. “But then, yes, it becomes a problem.”
The state Supreme Court wrote in its opinion on Tuesday that Hoskins must make a decision on whether the referendum can reach the ballot by Aug. 4, the same day as the primary election. Hoskins offered no indication that he planned to make a decision sooner, telling reporters on Tuesday that he planned to complete his certification process “by Aug. 4.”
Prior to the special election in September 2025 to recall former Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr., the JCEB voiced similar concerns surrounding the special election timeline and whether the recall ballot would be finalized quickly enough to meet the absentee deadline.
With several months remaining until the August primaries, Brown said that the lack of clarity over election maps “is not a crisis right now” in the eyes of the JCEB.
Brown noted, however, that other counties running general elections in August are stuck in much the same place until a final decision is made by the Office of the Secretary of State.
“All of the LEAs (local election offices) are in the same boat,” Brown said. “I think everybody is just waiting.”
The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed reporting.
