Missouri Secretary of State

Missouri voters in 28 counties have been assigned to a different congressional district under the Republican-drawn map intended to oust Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II. But a referendum effort and lawsuits could still change where voters end up in November.

Judges increasingly have found that official summaries from Missouri election officials fail to tell voters what ballot measures would actually do — forcing rewrites on amendments about abortion, redistricting and more. Republicans say courts are overstepping.

People Not Politicians wants a judge to compel Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to either accept or reject the anti-redistricting ballot issue — and stop telling elections officials to implement a plan aimed at ousting Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

The head of the state clerks association says local election officials still lack access to the voter database needed to finalize new district assignments.

A Cole County judge is being asked to block the measure from the ballot or rewrite its summary for voters.

After a Missouri Supreme Court decision Tuesday, the group People Not Politicians is urging Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to make a decision on whether its referendum on the 2025 congressional map will make the November 2026 ballot.

Backers of the Respect Missouri Voters initiative turned in roughly 350,000 signatures on Sunday to the Missouri secretary of state’s office. Lawmakers would be barred from changing or repealing voter-approved statutes or constitutional amendments, unless 80% of the legislature agrees to put the changes to another statewide vote.

If the referendum qualifies for the November ballot, Missouri voters would be asked whether to approve the redistricting plan passed by Republican lawmakers. A citizen group sued Secretary of State Denny Hoskins accusing him of writing a biased summary, and two courts have now agreed.

The constitutional amendment would establish that access to public education is a "fundamental right." But organizers say the controversy over the Missouri Secretary of State's ballot language, which a judge ruled was unfair and had to be rewritten, delayed signature collection.

Missouri's secretary of state is only checking about 200,000 of the 300,000 signatures that were submitted to force a statewide vote on the gerrymandered congressional map. Referendum organizers are less than 200 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot, but want all signatures reviewed.

A similar version of this bill was thrown out by the Missouri Supreme Court in January because of an unrelated item. Before it was struck down, that new process was put to the test over a proposed constitutional amendment to ban most abortions.

The Missouri secretary of state may be given additional subpoena power to investigate complaints of election fraud under a bill that now heads to the state Senate.