KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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Groups that oppose the new congressional districts the Missouri Legislature passed this month are going down two paths to block the legislation from becoming law.
House Bill 1 draws new congressional lines, changing who politicians represent in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The first path is to file lawsuits. Already, groups have filed three lawsuits challenging HB1. The suits claim the bill violates the law and ask the judge to block it from taking effect.
“The central claim is that the Constitution does not allow for redistricting more than once every 10 years because we only have census data once every 10 years,” explained Alix Cossette, an attorney at Stinson representing plaintiffs in one case.
The other path is a citizen referendum, or voter veto. People Not Politicians Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri filed a petition with the secretary of state.
This allows the groups to gather signatures of registered Missouri voters. If they gather roughly 110,000 signatures over the next 90 days, between now and Dec. 11, they’ll freeze the bill.
Voters across the state would then vote on whether they want the bill to become law. That lawsuit would take place in November 2026, unless the legislature sets a special election at another date.
“The people who are going to put this issue on the ballot are Missourians. The people who are going to have the final say on this are Missourians,” said Richard Von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians.
“Democracy in America was not won with a victory in court. It was led by the people, for the people. Our state constitution guarantees us the right to go through this process and take this issue directly to voters,” said Tori Schafer, of the ACLU of Missouri.
The majority of Missouri’s state lawmakers voted in favor of this bill. They don’t believe either path is necessary.
"We got some great things done today for the state of Missouri,” Sen. Brad Hudson (R-Cape Fair) said Friday. “We got a map passed that'll match Missouri values."
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