Missouri constitution

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.

Opponents of the new map contended that lawmakers couldn't engage in mid-decade redistricting. But a Cole County judge ruled there's no explicit prohibition on the practice.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected 90,000 signatures for a referendum on the newly redrawn congressional map, because they were collected before Gov. Mike Kehoe had signed the map into law. But the group People Not Politicians argues that the signatures are valid.

Abortion may be legal again in Missouri, but only 80 elective abortions have been performed in the year since Amendment 3 passed. Decades of restrictions have gutted the state’s provider network, and medication abortion is still unavailable as the courts sort out which old laws are constitutional.

Missourians narrowly passed Amendment 2 in 2024, which legalized sports betting in the state. As of December 1, people can now bet in person at casinos as well as through a variety of mobile apps like DraftKings or FanDuel.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s office argued that the anti-redistricting referendum attempt violates the state and U.S. constitutions by infringing on the legislature's sole authority to draw maps. The federal case is one of multiple legal battles over state lawmakers' mid-decade redistricting effort.

Missouri lawmakers in 2022 passed a sweeping elections bill that included a photo ID requirement to vote and limitations on registering voters. Challenges to both provisions were heard at the Missouri Supreme in separate cases.

A three-judge federal panel struck down Texas' new congressional map on racial gerrymandering grounds. Challenges to Missouri's map don't involve the same type of claim.

Depending on the timing, a Supreme Court ruling that weakens Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination may lead to more states redrawing congressional maps before the 2026 midterms.

The office of Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is arguing in court that Missouri's 2022 congressional map, which was drawn by the Republican-dominated legislature, should not have preserved a majority-Black district in the St. Louis area. But that argument may also hurt the GOP's newly-redrawn map as well.