{"id":5445,"date":"2025-09-26T17:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/26\/effort-to-force-vote-on-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map-hits-roadblock-2\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T17:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:42:14","slug":"effort-to-force-vote-on-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map-hits-roadblock-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/26\/effort-to-force-vote-on-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map-hits-roadblock-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Effort to force vote on gerrymandered Missouri congressional map hits roadblock"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Protesters gather in the Missouri Capitol rotunda Sept. 10 in opposition to a proposed congressional district map that passed the House (Annelise Hanshaw\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n

A referendum petition seeking a <\/span>statewide vote<\/span><\/a> on the <\/span>gerrymandered Missouri redistricting plan<\/span><\/a> is insufficient because the bill changing district lines hasn\u2019t been signed yet, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins decided Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, in an opinion letter dated Thursday, recommended Hoskins reject the petition because the law describing the form says the petition must refer to \u201claws\u201d passed by the General Assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the opinion letter, which has not yet been published on the attorney general\u2019s website, Hanaway wrote: \u201cA bill passed by the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate does not become \u2018a law\u2019 until it is either \u2018approved by the governor\u2019 or until the bill is not \u2018returned by the governor within the time limits prescribed by this section.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The redistricting plan, she wrote, \u201chas not been signed by Governor Kehoe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement to The Independent, Hanaway\u2019s office said proponents should have waited.<\/p>\n

\u201cState law only allows a referendum on measures that have been enacted into law,\u201d the statement provided by spokeswoman Abigail Bergmann read. \u201cThe referendum petition was thus premature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The redistricting plan seeks to flip the 5th Congressional District, currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, to Republicans. President Donald Trump began pushing for Missouri to redistrict in late July.<\/p>\n

Richard von Glahn, leading the committee People Not Politicians in its quest to put the plan on a ballot, immediately called shenanigans and his attorney, Chuck Hatfield, wrote a letter demanding a revision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a matter of public record that the governor has announced his assent to the bill and intends to <\/span>sign it on Sunday<\/span><\/a> of this week,\u201d Hatfield wrote in a footnote to his legal analysis. \u201cDelaying review of the referendum forms on that basis is simply silly. Nothing allows you to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To be successful, a referendum petition must have signatures equal to 5% of the vote for governor in six of the state\u2019s eight congressional districts. The petitions must be submitted within 90 days of the adjournment of the legislative session that passed the new law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers concluded the special session on Sept. 12, giving von Glahn\u2019s group until Dec. 11 to submit the signatures.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople Not Politicians has continued to face obstinance from politicians who refuse to perform their administrative duties and adhere to legal deadlines around processing the legally submitted referendum petition,\u201d a news release from the campaign stated. \u201cThe group continues to gather signatures to put the issue before Missouri voters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If the decision is not reversed, the issue will go to the courts, von Glahn said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident the courts will side with Missourians constitutional right to a referendum, as they always have,\u201d he said in the news release.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his letter challenging Hanaway\u2019s legal analysis, Hatfield wrote that her constitutional references are inaccurate and she missed important sections that control the referendum process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour letter ignores (<\/span>the referendum clause<\/span><\/a>), which guarantees to the people the \u2018power to approve or reject by referendum any act of the general assembly,\u2019\u201d Hatfield wrote. \u201cThat is exactly what Mr. von Glahn seeks to do and the constitution is extremely clear.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2022, the Missouri Supreme Court found two laws that <\/span>impeded the referendum process<\/span><\/a> were unconstitutional. In that decision, the court found that signatures gathered before the ballot language for the petition had been written were valid.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that case, administrative delays by the attorney general and the secretary of state were found to be improper barriers when opponents of a law banning abortions attempted an initiative in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the same stuff we went through on the abortion case,\u201d Hatfield said, \u201cand the courts of appeals told them you can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This story was updated at 6 p.m. Friday with a comment from the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/em><\/p>\n

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