Hoskins responds to Boone County clerk’s letter: ‘Missouri First Map remains in effect’
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins issued a response on Thursday to a letter from the Boone County Clerk that claimed she could not redraw congressional district lines within the county in accordance with the 'Missouri First' map.
Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon wrote in a letter on Tuesday that she couldn’t update voter rolls until the Secretary of State’s Office made a move on a referendum petition from December. The petition seeks to put the new congressional map, approved by the Missouri General Assembly last year, to a vote of the people.
The highly debated “Missouri First Map” will be in effect going into the August primary, Hoskins’ news release states.
A press release from the SOS’s office says it has now “issued formal guidance to local election authorities statewide, instructing them to continue election preparation activities — including candidate filing, ballot programming, and precinct assignments — based on the congressional districts established under House Bill 1’s Missouri First Map.”
The Missouri Supreme Court handed down multiple rulings on Tuesday over the mid-decade redrawn House district maps. Its rulings led to upholding the map, claiming petitioners did not prove the map “clearly and undoubtedly” violates Article 3 of the Missouri Constitution.
Gov. Mike Kehoe said at a Thursday afternoon news conference that the new map is "the law of the land" and that clerks should follow it. However, he said he also supports the public voting on the new map.
Lennon rebutted Hoskins’ release in a text message to ABC 17 News.
“The Secretary of State's Office still has not made the necessary updates to the statewide voter registration system to let any clerk update their precincts to reflect the new maps, so there isn't any action that can be taken at this time."”
The ruling also claims that submitting a referendum petition did not automatically suspend the bill that created the new map. Lennon claimed “no actionable legal information as to what congressional district map is in effect” because the SOS’s office did not issue its own decision.
Debate over Lennon’s letter occurred on the Missouri Senate floor on Thursday, with Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Cass County) filing a remonstrance, which is a form of protest or grievance a lawmaker can file.
Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) showed support for Lennon during the floor discussion.
The new map would split Boone County between the Fifth District, which stretches to the Kansas border, and the Third District, which stretches to the Illinois border. The Republican-dominated legislature redrew the Fifth District, which now serves Kansas City, to eliminate the safe Democratic seat held by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
