Effort to force vote on gerrymandered Missouri congressional map hits roadblock

A referendum petition seeking a statewide vote on the gerrymandered Missouri redistricting plan is insufficient because the bill changing district lines hasn’t been signed yet, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins decided Friday.

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, in an opinion letter dated Thursday, recommended Hoskins reject the petition because the law describing the form says the petition must refer to “laws” passed by the General Assembly.

In the opinion letter, which has not yet been published on the attorney general’s website, Hanaway wrote: “A bill passed by the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate does not become ‘a law’ until it is either ‘approved by the governor’ or until the bill is not ‘returned by the governor within the time limits prescribed by this section.’”

The redistricting plan, she wrote, “has not been signed by Governor Kehoe.”




https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/26/effort-to-force-vote-on-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map-hits-roadblock/