300k signatures force referendum on MO gerrymander!

UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec 10, 2025 · 12:19:47 AM +00:00 · CathyM

h/t 1BQ:

Democracy Docket posted a gigantic HOWEVER:

Republicans, who have been hellbent on attacking the referendum, suffered a serious setback Monday: A federal judge dismissed a case filed by the Missouri General Assembly arguing that voters don’t have the right to a referendum on redistricting plans.

But the ruling didn’t exactly clear the way for the referendum to proceed, either.

The judge — a Trump appointee — concluded that the referendum’s opponents don’t need a court to block it because Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, an elected Republican, has the authority to reject the petition as unconstitutional himself after the signatures are turned in.

[…] Hoskins has already indicated that he plans to reject around 90,000 signatures collected during the beginning of the petition drive – a decision People Not Politicians is challenging.

[…] “If the Secretary of State refuses to certify the referendum or attempts to put HB1 into effect prematurely, People Not Politicians is prepared to take immediate action in state court,” the group said in a statement Tuesday. “The organization expects the State and allied intervenors to attempt procedural delays, but remains confident that Missouri’s courts will uphold voters’ constitutional rights.”

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More good news — and POWER TO THE PEOPLE!! Not guaranteed success, but a real strong showing, IMO (Bolding mine):

www.theguardian.com/…

Organizers submit enough signatures to block gerrymandered Missouri map

More than 300,000 signatures delivered to secretary of state to force referendum on Republican-drawn map

Organizers challenging Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map say they turned in enough signatures on Tuesday to block the map from going into effect and to force a referendum on the map next year.

People not Politicians, the main organization behind the effort, said they submitted more than 300,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office, nearly triple the number required to block the map from going into effect. Missouri’s Republican secretary of state now needs to review the signatures.

...Missouri Republicans approved a new map in September that eliminates the Kansas City-based district of Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat, and replaces it with a Republican one. It’s part of a nationwide push by Donald Trump to redraw Republican-friendly congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections…

...Verifying the signatures should take between eight and 10 weeks, but it could go into next summer, People Not Politicians said in a statement. The new map must remain paused while the review takes place, the group said.

Catherine Hanaway, the Missouri attorney general, has also taken legal efforts to try to stop the referendum from taking place.