People Not Politicians hoping for speedy court trial challenging SoS referendum rejection
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The group People Not Politicians held a news conference Wednesday morning to respond to the Secretary of State's decision not to place Missouri's congressional map on the November ballot, and to talk strategy on the court case challenging the secretary's decision.
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said Tuesday that a citizen-led referendum challenging a Republican-friendly map passed by the state legislature is "insufficient." Hoskins called the referendum on the map "insufficient" because it is unconstitutional, based on court rulings and the Missouri Attorney General's opinion.
"Federal law makes clear that the Missouri Constitution cannot be interpreted to strip the General Assembly of its authority over redistricting absent a clear statement," Attorney General Catherine Hanaway wrote.
Hoskins agreed with Hanway, maintaining the Missouri Constitution doesn't allow a challenge to a congressional map.
Hoskins announced at a news conference in Jefferson City about an hour before his deadline to certify the petition challenging the "Missouri First" congressional map.
People Not Politicians were prepared for Hoskins to call the referendum unconstitutional, and quickly filed a lawsuit to challenge the decision, claiming the petition is sufficient.
The lawsuit argues “Hoskins did not identify the number of signatures gathered as a reason for deeming the Referendum insufficient.” It also says Hoskins’ claim “the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions prohibit subjecting a redistricting bill to the referendum” is incorrect.
People Not Politicians attorney Chuck Hatfield argues Missouri law allows citizen referendums on any act of the legislature except laws crafted for immediate public peace, health or safety, or certain appropriations laws. He said the referendum on the 2025 congressional map doesn't fall into either of those categories.
Back in December, a federal judge ruled that Hoskins could declare the referendum unconstitutional, but many people are wondering why Hoskins waited until the last day to decide.
An ABC 17 News reporter asked Hoskins that question after he announced his decision. The secretary said he doing his due diligence as a public official.
"I would say that we've done some further research, we have an attorney general opinion now that also confirms my belief that it is unconstitutional, and so we wanted to let this process play out," Hoskins said.
If Hoskins decides to certify the referendum, it would freeze the 2025 map, and Missouri would go back to the previous map passed in 2022. What this means for the August and November elections isn't clear and would likely need to be determined in court.
