Missouri claims 100K signatures to repeal voting map aren’t valid. That’s not all
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Republican statewide officials deploy legal and procedural tactics to block referendum.
- People Not Politicians gathered about 100,000 signatures, nearing the deadline.
- New congressional map splits Kansas City into three Republican-leaning districts.
After tens of thousands of Missourians signed onto a campaign to repeal the state’s gerrymandered congressional map, statewide officials have deployed a barrage of maneuvers to crush the effort.
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins this week claimed that roughly 100,000 signatures gathered by the campaign are not valid, arguing that gathering them before his office’s approval “constitutes a misdemeanor election offense.” Hoskins later attempted to backtrack that criminal threat.
Hours later, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a federal lawsuit to block the campaign, alleging that voters do not have the power to hold a referendum on the state’s congressional districts.
The legal actions illustrate a remarkable attempt by Republican officials to thwart Missourians from holding a statewide vote in 2026 to strike down the state’s new map, which splits Kansas City into three Republican-leaning districts under pressure from the Trump administration.
The effort follows a yearslong trend of attacks on direct democracy as voters have sought to use the ballot box to pass policies opposed by Republicans who control every statewide office and both chambers of the legislature, such as abortion rights, minimum wage and Medicaid expansion.
“The whole thing’s outrageous,” said Chuck Hatfield, the attorney for the campaign, called People Not Politicians. “We have state officials in a full-blown tantrum about the right of the people to overrule these congressional districts.”
The campaign has been collecting signatures across the state to force a referendum vote that would ask voters to repeal the Republican-backed map. Campaigners say they’ve collected more than 100,000 — just shy of the roughly 107,000 needed by December to hold a vote.
But the campaign faces a series of hurdles from Republican officials that will play out in court. Hoskins, whose office previously rejected the referendum petition, claims that any signatures gathered before his approval should not count “and doing so constitutes a misdemeanor election offense.”
“This office remains committed to transparency, accuracy, and protecting Missouri voters’ trust in the democratic process,” Hoskins said on Wednesday.
In a follow-up press release on Thursday, Hoskins’ office attempted to backtrack the threat of criminal penalties and said his office supports citizens’ right to express opinions and organize.
“Recent statements from the Office have focused not on restricting that right, but on reminding the public of the specific criminal offenses that may occur during the signature-gathering phase of a referendum petition once circulation begins under Missouri law,” the press release said.
Hanaway, for her part, argues in a new federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that state lawmakers have the exclusive authority to redraw congressional districts — not voters — and is asking a judge to block the campaign.
The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis, claims that the referendum “would strip the General Assembly of its authority over redistricting. This unprecedented act violates both the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions.”
The referendum campaign has remained steadfast that both officials are wrong, framing their various maneuvers and public statements as attempts to confuse voters and halt the campaign.
The campaign has conveyed confidence that the map will be before Missourians for a statewide vote in 2026.
“It feels like what’s happened over the last 24 hours is, ‘let’s try to throw as much spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks,’” said Richard Von Glahn, the campaign’s executive director. “But the logic, both of the Missouri Constitution, of our statute and judicial precedent, would say none of that should stick.”
Inside Missouri’s map
The ongoing legal fights center on the state’s congressional map. Six of the state’s eight districts are currently represented by Republicans, while Democrats hold two — one in Kansas City and the other in St. Louis.
Republican state lawmakers voted to redraw those districts this summer to allow a Republican to pick up another seat. The unprecedented move came under pressure from President Donald Trump, who urged GOP states to gerrymander their maps so Republicans can maintain control of Congress.
The map lawmakers approved takes direct aim at Kansas City and longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. It carves the city’s voters into three Republican-leaning districts, effectively diluting their political power.
People Not Politicians launched its referendum campaign shortly after the vote and almost immediately began collecting signatures to strike down the map.
Referendum campaigns, outlined in the Missouri Constitution, allow voters to challenge most bills passed by state lawmakers. Campaigners have until Dec. 11 to collect enough signatures to force a statewide vote.
“We’re going to turn in more than enough…to qualify the referendum in December,” Von Glahn told reporters on Wednesday.
Direct democracy attacks
While different in substance, the actions from Hanaway and Hoskins echo a playbook utilized by their predecessors in fights against referendums and initiative petitions, proposed ballot measures Republicans often disagree with.
The initiative petition process, which is separate from the referendum process, allows citizens to put issues on the ballot and has been utilized by voters to pass policies such as abortion rights, increased minimum wage and legalized sports betting.
Ahead of a historic, citizen-led campaign to overturn the state’s abortion ban in 2024, former Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the two previous officeholders, tried to render the effort politically toxic.
Ashcroft proposed incendiary language for the ballot question while Bailey tried to insert a sensationalized estimate of financial damage into the question that voters would have seen. The courts struck down both attempts, but the lengthy legal fights briefly delayed the campaign from collecting signatures.
The measure ultimately reached the ballot and nearly 52% of voters enshrined abortion rights in the Missouri Constitution in November.
Before that, the former secretary of state also used procedural maneuvers to thwart a previous referendum campaign that also sought to overturn restrictions on abortion. While Ashcroft’s efforts effectively halted the campaign, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that his actions were unconstitutional.
Republican lawmakers have been more straightforward in their attacks against direct democracy in recent months, moving to overturn voter-approved laws such as abortion rights and paid sick leave.
Republicans also voted to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot that, if approved, would make it virtually impossible for most citizen-led amendments to pass through the state’s initiative petition process.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 3:21 PM.
