Legal battle continues over Missouri’s new congressional maps, referendum process
By Chloe Godding
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Missouri (KMBC) — A new lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Missouri is asking a court to halt the use of new congressional maps until voters can weigh in.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court on Tuesday, claiming that the state of Missouri and the secretary of state have violated the right to referendum by pushing Missouri’s new congressional maps forward without input from voters.
“By attempting to enact the new maps despite receiving more than 305,000 signatures from Missouri voters demanding a referendum, the Secretary of State is denying a longstanding tradition, judicial precedent, and our constitutional rights,” said Tori Shafer, director of policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, in a news release.
The ACLU said that the signatures, submitted by the organization People Not Politicians, are nearly three times the number required.
“Ignoring the legislative power granted to the people, the Secretary of State publicly indicated that his office intends to use House Bill 1’s new congressional map in the 2026 primary and general elections,” the ACLU said.
The ACLU is asking the court to suspend House Bill 1 to prevent election authorities from using the new maps until they are approved or rejected by voters.
On the other side, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office issued a statement Monday on the referendum process, saying that People Not Politicians is engaging in a “disinformation campaign.” The statement was not in direct response to the lawsuit, but rather the possibility of a referendum and the upholding of state law.
“People Not Politicians is promoting a false narrative that the Missouri FIRST Map is ‘frozen’ upon the mere submission of referendum signatures. This narrative is wrong,” the attorney general’s office said.
The attorney general’s office said it’s not yet been determined if enough signatures have been submitted; the Missouri Constitution requires 5% of legal voters in each of two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts.
The attorney general’s office also said that a “substantial number” of the signatures were submitted before Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the map and before Secretary of State Denny Hoskins approved the referendum petition.
“Until the Secretary of State confirms that the proposed referendum has enough valid signatures to qualify, the Missouri FIRST Map will remain in effect,” the attorney general’s office said. “The contrary conclusion would allow anyone to freeze duly-enacted state laws by dropping off boxes of unverified signatures.”
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