There’s a clash over when Missouri’s new Congressional redistricting bill takes effect.
A group called People Not Politicians has gathered 305,000 signatures to try to let Missouri voters overturn the state’s new Congressional voting districts. The group turned in the signatures on Tuesday.
“Under the Missouri Constitution, any law sent to voters cannot take effect unless approved by a majority vote. Once signatures are submitted, HB1 must be paused until Missourians vote on it at the ballot box,” a news release from the group said.
But Secretary of State Denny Hoskins told Missourinet he disagrees.
Photo approval by People Not Politicians
“The Attorney General’s Office just came out with an opinion that says that the referendum does not go into effect until the signatures have been certified by the Secretary of State’s office,” said Hoskins.
In a statement from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, it said by law, the Secretary of State is now required to conduct “a careful review of the referendum petition—both to investigate whether an adequate number of legitimate signatures are submitted and to ensure the referendum’s constitutionality.”
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s Office points to the state’s federal lawsuit, arguing that the proposed referendum violates the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause.
“In an opinion filed on December 8, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held that the State’s lawsuit was filed too early; the court reasoned that Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has the power to refuse to certify the proposed referendum—if the Secretary deems it to violate the U.S. Constitution.”
According to Hanaway’s Office, the federal court ruling also said the state has not yet suffered any injury because House Bill 1 and the new map will go into effect on December 11 and not be frozen unless and until the Secretary of State certifies the referendum.
“People Not Politicians agreed in federal court that state law compels this conclusion, and the court based its dismissal ruling on this concession,” Hanaway’s office said.
People Not Politicians said Missouri law requires the Secretary of State to begin certification or send copies of the petition to local election authorities for verification within two weeks.
“Signature verification usually takes 8-10 weeks, but could drag out into the summer. HB1 must remain paused pending certification. When the State completes its review of the submitted signatures, the public record will confirm that Missourians met every legal requirement for a referendum—and that any effort to block their vote undermines more than a century of Missouri precedent,” said People Not Politicians.
Hoskins said local election offices have until July 28 to validate the signatures and turn in their work to his office. Then it’s up to Hoskins to decide whether to certify the signatures.
“Missouri State law does not say the timeline on when the Secretary of State must certify those signatures. However, I would say that we will certify any signatures that we receive within a reasonable amount of time,” Hoskins told Missourinet.
What is a reasonable amount of time?
“With this referendum, this has only been done like twice in the past 25 years, and so it will take a significant amount of time to certify those results. A lot of it depends on what condition those results come back into and when exactly I received those results,” said Hoskins.
What is the deadline to finalize ballot wording for the November 2026 election?
“No changes can be made to the ballot after 5pm on September 8 (8 weeks prior to Election Day). After 10 weeks prior to an election only a court order can make a change to the ballot. After 8 weeks prior to an election even a court order cannot make changes,” the Secretary of State’s Office told Missourinet.
This latest clash between Hoskins and People Not Politicians is expected to eventually play out in court between both sides.
“If the Secretary of State refuses to certify the referendum or attempts to put HB1 into effect prematurely, People Not Politicians is prepared to take immediate action in state court. The organization expects the State and allied intervenors to attempt procedural delays, but remains confident that Missouri’s courts will uphold voters’ constitutional rights,” the group said.
The Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature passed HB 1 in September, a newly-drawn map of eight Congressional districts. Despite the legislature passing a new map in 2022, President Donald Trump reportedly pressured Missouri Republicans to reshape Congressional districts so that Democrats lose a seat in the 2026 elections.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, appears to be the Republican target to flip in 2026.
Copyright © 2025 · Missourinet