Many Kansas Citians voted in new congressional districts during Tuesday’s primaries. But whether they’ll vote in those same districts come November is still to be determined.
Republicans in the Missouri General Assembly drew and passed new congressional maps last year aimed at adding another Republican to Missouri’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The central target was Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, and longtime Kansas City-based Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.
Those maps have survived a series of legal challenges, but a group called People Not Politicians gathered more than 300,000 signatures supporting a referendum that would put the maps up for a statewide vote.
But right at the deadline Tuesday, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins declined to certify the ballot measure. He argues the referendum isn’t allowed because the Missouri Constitution doesn’t expressly permit it — a mirror image of the arguments that Republican leaders made to defend mid-decade redistricting in the first place.
“It doesn't matter if there was one signature or 500 million signatures. The fact of the matter is, I ruled it insufficient because it is unconstitutional,” Hoskins told KCUR’s Up To Date.
Hoskins also refused to certify petition signatures for another ballot initiative, known as Respect Missouri Voters, that would have made it harder for lawmakers to undo ballot initiatives passed by voters. That measure gained steam after the Missouri General Assembly undid parts of a minimum wage and paid leave ballot measure just months after voters approved it.
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, called Hoskins’ move “pathetic.” He’s confident Missourians will be able to vote on the referendum on Nov. 3.
“He's been an obstructionist throughout this entire process and is trying to operate as a single-person veto over the wishes of over 305,000 Missourians that signed a perfectly legal petition,” von Glahn said.
People Not Politicians has filed a lawsuit in response to Hoskins’ decision, asking a Cole County judge to put the referendum on the ballot, and to block the use of the new congressional maps in November’s general election.
Missouri state law dictates Sept. 8 as the deadline to add any measure to the ballot.
- Richard von Glahn, People Not Politicians
- Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins
