Black Friday turns political as signature gatherers and their opponents target shoppers
Alison Patton
COLUMBIA (Mo.) KMIZ
Petitioners trying to get Missouri’s new congressional map on the 2026 ballot collected signatures on Black Friday as the deadline to submit approaches.
The Boone County Democratic Party posted on Facebook, requesting volunteers to sign up for shifts on the big shopping day.
This comes after Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced her office was investigating a company that employs people to collect signatures for using illegal immigrants, which the company denies. The Republican National Committee targeted Missourians with text messages this week, saying groups from outside the state are trying to “trick” people into signing the petitions.
Marlyn Whitney, one of two people collecting signatures in the parking lot of the Shoppes at Stadium, said the petition is for the voters to approve the actions of the General Assembly.
“It just puts it on the ballot so that we the citizens can have a say in what our state legislature is doing, because we feel like we should choose our politicians, our politicians should not choose their voters,” Whitney said.
She got about 12 or 13 signatures within her first hour-and-a-half, Whitney said. Most people she talked with didn’t make a scene or were curious to know what the petition was for.
An ABC 17 reporter saw who seemed to be recording or taking pictures of Whitney, and walked off asking people not to sign the petition, saying it’s not good for Missourians.
People Not Politicians, the group backing the referendum, has to submit signatures by Dec. 11.
The Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters of Columbia-Boone County say they will wrap up signature collection by Wednesday. The Democratic Party will have a “drive-thru” style signature collection Saturday, and the League of Women Voters will be in downtown Columbia throughout the weekend.
People Not Politicians Executive Director Richard von Glahn said signature collection statewide will go through the first weekend of December.
“We will be gathering up through next weekend so that as many Missourians as possible get a chance to participate in our democracy,” von Glahn wrote in an email.
The new congressional map would carve up Missouri’s Fifth District, eliminating a seat historically held by Democrats. Republicans in the Missouri General Assembly approved the map over the summer after a White House push to secure more safe Republican seats in Congress.
Redistricting has historically been done after the census every 10 years.