Secretary of State Hoskins accused of delay tactics over certifying signatures | Opinion
The ball — but more importantly, the democratic process as we know it in Missouri — is in Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ court, says Richard von Glahn, executive director of a political action committee called People Not Politicians Missouri. The group that von Glahn leads is at the center of one of the most vexing political and legal fights that I can recall in recent memory here.
In the committee’s crosshairs is none other than Hoskins, a hard-right Republican from Warrensburg. It is Hoskins that will determine if the PAC’s pending referendum petition to force a statewide vote on the so-called “Missouri First Map” has enough valid signatures to place on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The problem is, Hoskins said this week the new GOP-gerrymandered congressional map, backed by the GOP supermajority in Jefferson City at the behest of President Donald Trump, would be used in the Aug. 4 primary election. He also questioned the constitutionality of the referendum itself.
“I do have some questions even about the constitutionality of a referendum on congressional redistricting,” Hoskins told reporters this week.
Hoskins’ decision to use the new map while its legality remains in doubt is a shortsighted partisan decision that has led to nothing but chaos and confusion among voters in Kansas City and elsewhere in the state in recent days.
According to von Glahn, data from the secretary of state’s office showed the petition has about 305,000 valid signatures, more than enough to place the issue before voters. If and when Hoskins does certify the petition, the new map will become null and void until Missourians have their say at the ballot box. I mean, the will of the people is how democracy is supposed to work in a free and open society.
In Missouri, the right to order a referendum is enshrined in the state constitution.
“State officials take an oath to the Missouri Constitution, not to a political party and not to a President,” von Glahn said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “And it’s critically important that when people are elected, they govern for the entire state and that means following the Constitution, even if you don’t agree with the outcome.”
On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the redrawn congressional map. In a separate case seeking to suspend the redrawn districts, the state supreme court ruled the new map was suitable for the primary election in August. The next day, Glahn told me that Hoskins is abrogating his duties as an elected official for slow-walking the certification process.
“I recognize the secretary doesn’t like what the end result of this process is likely to be,” von Glahn said. “And he is welcome to campaign against the referendum as vigorously as he wants, but you know, that is what he can do as a private citizen. As a public official, he works for all of us, and that means all of our rights need to have equal weight in his office.”
Hoskins knows enough signatures gathered
Below is a brief Q&A with von Glahn. I reached out to Hoskins’ office seeking comment but hadn’t heard back as of Thursday. Some questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Toriano Porter: What’s the latest in regards to the petition?
Richard von Glahn: Local election authorities have verified more than enough signatures to certify the referendum for the secretary of state to take his step and certify the referendum. The secretary of state has not taken that action yet so the petition is in the same situation as when we turned it in (on Dec. 9, 2025) except that the local election authorities have done their work, and they know, and we know and the secretary knows there’s an adequate number of signatures.
TP: Let’s just say he was to come out tomorrow or the next day and certify the petition. What happens then?
RvG: So the (Missouri) Supreme Court made very clear that whatever point that the petition is certified as valid, that means the gerrymandered map is not only suspended, it has in fact not been in effect since Dec. 9. It’s retroactive so it’s never been the law, and so that would mean the 2022 map is what is used for the primary in general elections.
TP: What happens if the secretary of state does not certify the petition until the Aug. 4 deadline, which is actually the same day as the primary election?
RvG: It’s interesting, because it is unclear. At this moment, the Supreme Court made very clear how unclear this is, and they said it is impossible to know what map is currently in effect.
TP: No matter how it goes, come August or November, do you think there’ll be some legal challenges?
RvG: Oh, 100%. 100%.
TP: There seems to be some chaos and confusion about August and November and this gerrymandered map. Do you think that’s the goal, to confuse folks?
RvG: Yes. His (Hoskins’) goal from the beginning of this campaign and all of the litigation that we’ve had, I don’t think he has ever expected to win. His goal is to try to lose slowly enough and in that process force people into participating in an illegal and illegitimate election, and that is shameful.
He has been saying since October that he believes the referendum is unconstitutional, and you know what? He has had the ability to make things and declare the referendum unconstitutional from Dec. 9 when we turned the signatures in until now. He’s done nothing for six months.
TP: What’s the worst case scenario in this situation?
RvG: The worst case scenario is that we have an election using district boundary lines based on the Supreme Court rulings that are later to be determined to be invalid, and the results of that election are thrown out. We have a situation where we could go through a primary election and a general election using invalid lines. And you could have the U.S. Congress, I think, correctly refuse to seat a delegation from Missouri because our election was conducted illegally at the behest of Denny Hoskins, and that would be catastrophic to Missourians of all political parties.
TP: What’s the best case scenario?
RvG: The best case scenario is that Denny stops delaying tactics. He makes his decision now. There’s probably an appeal. There’s probably a legal fight. But this gets sorted out and we can move forward in Missouri and participate in a referendum and know what elections, what candidates and what districts they are voting in as well. (Voters) can have absolute clarity about that and there’s nothing about the referendum process that makes that difficult other than Denny Hoskins’ refusal to do his job.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 2:11 PM.
