A Missouri judge has ruled that the state’s congressional map cannot be put to a referendum vote. On August 19, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green upheld Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ refusal to place the referendum on the November ballot, found Hoskins’ decision lawful, and ordered that the 2025 map “remain in full force and effect for the 2026 general election.” Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the map into law on September 28, 2025, after calling the Republican-led General Assembly into a special session in response to President Trump’s request that GOP-controlled states redraw their congressional boundaries before the midterms. The redraw targeted the Kansas City-based 5th District, held by a Democrat; Missouri’s delegation is currently six Republicans and two Democrats.
Judge Green rested the ruling on three grounds. He held that the Missouri Constitution’s guarantee of a referendum on “any act” of the General Assembly does not by itself settle whether that power reaches congressional redistricting, which he described as a subject that both the state and federal constitutions “separately and specifically assign to the General Assembly.” He found that the state constitution “does not supply any statement, let alone a clear one, reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General Assembly to a referendum process.” He concluded that the federal requirement that congressional elections be held on November 3 made the map exempt from referendum as an emergency measure, because suspending it would risk “the inability to hold a constitutionally valid election.”
According to the court, the number of signatures was never the issue. Green’s ruling accepted the state’s position that the petition, while containing enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, sought an unconstitutional result. People Not Politicians submitted 305,000 signatures in December. Its attorney, Chuck Hatfield, argued the case turned on the plain meaning of the word “any” in the constitution’s referendum provision, and pointed to a 1962 Missouri Supreme Court decision stating that a valid congressional redistricting plan is subject to referendum. Solicitor General Lou Capozzi, representing Hoskins, responded that the U.S. Constitution assigns authority over congressional maps to state legislatures and does not contemplate statewide votes, and that a state must specifically delegate that authority elsewhere for another body to exercise it. Attorneys for the Republican committees that intervened in the case argued that reviving the referendum now would nullify the nominations voters made in the August primary, which was conducted under the 2025 map. “It’s difficult to imagine any kind of judicial order that would cause more widespread voter confusion or erosion in confidence in the integrity of this state’s elections than the relief plaintiff seeks,” said attorney John Gore.
People Not Politicians appealed the same evening. The Missouri Supreme Court has taken the case on direct appeal and set arguments for September 2. That timing is driven by a hard deadline: September 8 is the last day courts can add an item to the November ballot. The stakes reach beyond the ballot question itself. If the referendum is ultimately found valid, the 2025 map would be suspended, and Missouri’s congressional elections would revert to the district lines used in 2022 and 2024, the boundaries in place before the redraw. “Everyone knows that Cole County is not the final decision here,” said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians. “After months of delay, we are pleased to be moving forward to the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce our constitutional rights.”
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