People Not Politicians, the grassroots political organization fighting Missouri’s newly gerrymandered congressional districts, said Thursday in an online press briefing that they believe they have the necessary signatures to put the new map to a statewide vote.
Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe last fall signed HB 1, which put into law a new congressional map developed by state lawmakers that divided the 5th District, represented by Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, in an effort to unseat him. The new map also splits Kansas City, with the southern part of the city now sitting in the 4th District.
People Not Politicians said it has gathered over 300,000 signatures in opposition to the map, hoping to send it to a statewide ballot. They need more than 106,000 verified signatures to do so.
But Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has questioned the validity of some signatures, and has said the new map will be in effect until the signatures are validated.
The executive director of People Not Politicians, Richard von Glahn, said Thursday that his group has filed a number of open-records requests to review the signatures' authenticity. They believe local government authorities have validated the signatures of 127,625 residents across the 1st through 5th districts, and they're working to determine how many signatures are valid from the 7th District.
“The data is very clear. The numbers are there," von Glahn said. "And so the secretary of state has the information that he needs or will have the final information in a matter of days.”
Rachael Dunn, a spokeswoman for Hoskins, told St. Louis Public Radio that the reports People Not Politicians are referencing “are preliminary and still subject to review, verification and certification by the Missouri secretary of state.” She added that “the secretary of state is still in the process of quality control and review.”
The People Not Politicians webpage keeps track of its own analysis of verified signatures and which district or county they are from.
The redistricting push last fall stemmed from President Donald Trump pressuring states to change their congressional maps ahead of November’s midterm elections for more Republican control.
Missouri last redrew its congressional map in 2022.
