Two more lawsuits filed this week in Missouri redistricting battle
Alison Patton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The group backing a referendum to get the new congressional map on the ballot filed its second lawsuit against the Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, according to court documents.
People Not Politicians is arguing Hoskins wrote misleading and biased ballot language for the group’s referendum.
This is the ballot title Hoskins approved, and posted to the official Secretary of State website:
“Do the people of the state of Missouri approve the act of the General Assembly entitled ‘House Bill No. 1,’ which repeals Missouri’s existing gerrymandered congressional plan that protects incumbent politicians, and replaces it with new congressional boundaries that keep more cities and counties intact, are more compact, and better reflects statewide voting patterns?”
According to court documents filed by the group, People Not Politicians argues the word “gerrymandered” is biased and argumentative. The group argues the whole ballot title is argumentative.
“It’s the latest attempt by desperate politicians seeking to break the rules and justify their power grab and try to manipulate an outcome around what should just be a fair and free election,” Executive Firector von Glahn said.
People Not Politicians is asking a Cole County judge to throw out the ballot title and write a new one, according to court documents.
People Not Politicians contracts another group, called Advanced Micro Testing, to help collect signatures, according to a People Not Politicians spokesperson. AMT makes up less than 10% of People Not Politicians’ workforce.
AMT filed its own, separate lawsuit Tuesday in federal court against four other campaign companies, according to court documents. AMT is alleging these other companies “poached” 28 AMT employees.
Those other companies are Let The Voters Decide, Vortex Elite, Synergy Wise Solutions and Onest Marketing.
According to the court documents, these other companies started a campaign to block the ballot measure, and allegedly tried bribing employees and created a smear campaign.
“The Smear Video indicates that AMT did provide its employees with a hotel with working water or food or money,” the court documents read.
AMT wants the judge to bar the other companies from soliciting, encouraging contract breaks, employing with AMT’s employees, remove all smear videos and stop using confidential trade information from AMT, according to court documents.