People Not Politicians to respond to declared ‘insufficient’ congressional map referendum

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The group People Not Politicians is set to hold a news conference Wednesday to respond to the Secretary of State's decision not to place Missouri's congressional map on the November ballot.

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.

People Not Politicians will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday over Zoom.

Hoskins maintained that 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.

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.

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.