The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously blocked new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump from being used in the November election and ordered a statewide vote on whether to uphold or reject the new map.
“The people of Missouri demanded a voice, and the court just confirmed what we’ve been saying all along. Supreme Court, asserting that the decision “has thrust our State into a full-fledged Constitutional crisis. Missouri’s new districts were used in the August primaries. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until primary election day in August to reject the petition. He asserted that the referendum process cannot be used for congressional redistricting. A lower court agreed, but the Supreme Court overturned Hoskins’ decision. The legislation containing the new districts “did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters. Hanaway, whose office represented Hoskins, called the ruling an unprecedented violation of federal law. So did Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who proposed the new congressional map to lawmakers. The Missouri Constitution does not specifically say that a referendum petition can be used for a congressional redistricting law passed by the Legislature. People, not politicians, will have the final say. Hoskins, acknowledging the loss, vowed to continue “the war to preserve our Constitutional republic. The ruling, which capped a year of political manoeuvring and legal wrangling, was one of two to go against Republican officials Thursday. The Supreme Court also ruled that Hoskins had wrongly rejected a petition for a ballot proposal, making it difficult for politicians to change measures enacted by voters through citizen initiatives. The court also ordered that measure to be placed on the November ballot.
The court ruled that the new districts were effectively placed on hold in December, when opponents submitted over 300,000 petition signatures seeking to put the map to a vote of the people. As a result, the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census “remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, said she would immediately appeal to the U.S. But the state Supreme Court said they cannot be used in the November general election — or ever again, unless voters first uphold the new districts passed by the Republican-led Legislature. “The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the court said in its ruling. “Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election,” Hanaway said in a statement. But the Supreme Court ruled that a Constitutional provision allowing a referendum on “any act” of the Legislature encompasses congressional redistricting. “This is what democracy looks like,” said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, which sponsored the referendum petition.
