Denny Hoskins

An attorney for Secretary of State Denny Hoskins told a judge that the original ballot summary for a referendum on Missouri's gerrymandered congressional map is “inherently argumentative” and should be revised

A Missouri citizen group collected 49,773 pages of signatures to force a statewide vote on the redrawn congressional map passed by Republican lawmakers last year. But Secretary of State Denny Hoskins will only submit 33,068 for verification, saying the rest are invalid.

In 1914, the Missouri Supreme Court held that once citizens submit signatures, the challenged law is automatically suspended until voters decide its fate.

The Missouri attorney general claims that the Republican-drawn congressional map is now active. But an anti-redistricting campaign argues that the law must be suspended while the state determines if enough valid signatures were submitted to force a statewide vote.

People Not Politicians sued after Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said he wouldn't count anti-redistricting ballot measure signatures collected before Oct. 14.

Opponents of Missouri's gerrymandered congressional map just submitted more than 305,000 signatures to force a vote on the plan. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins still has the chance to reject a referendum, but legal experts don't expect that move to succeed in court.

Missouri Republican leaders claimed the U.S. Constitution forbids state referendums on Congressional district plans. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the Missouri Secretary of State can still declare the petition unconstitutional under the state constitution.

The initiative petition would enshrine public education as "fundamental right" in the state constitution. But a ballot summary written by Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins is "insufficient and unfair," a Cole County judge ruled.

The ballot measure also includes a ban on gender affirming health care for minors. Judges reissued the summary statement that voters will see on November 2026 ballots to make clear rights were being repealed, not newly established.

The proposed constitutional amendment also includes a ban on gender-affirming health care for minors, a provision opponents say violates a state law requiring amendments only cover one subject.

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, both Republicans, said the partnership would enhance voter roll maintenance by “securely” sharing personal details on 1.87 million registered voters in Kansas and 4.13 million registered voters in Missouri.

The Republican National Committee is targeting voters to remove their names from a referendum petition that could overturned Missouri's recently redrawn congressional map. A lawsuit is already underway over whether Missouri's Secretary of State improperly threw out tens of thousands of signatures.