Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has rejected an effort to place a referendum on the ballot that would challenge the state’s newly drawn congressional districts.
The decision came Tuesday while Missourians were voting in congressional races using the new map approved by lawmakers in 2025. The map redrew district boundaries across the state and increased the number of Republican-leaning districts.
Hoskins said the proposed referendum is unconstitutional and announced the challenge would not move forward. He also said questions about whether enough signatures were collected are irrelevant because he believes the referendum itself is not legally valid.
The decision prompted an immediate legal response from People Not Politicians, the group behind the referendum effort. The organization says it gathered more than 305,000 signatures and has now filed a lawsuit in Cole County seeking to overturn Hoskins’ decision.
The dispute centers on Missouri’s new congressional map, which changed district boundaries in several parts of the state. Under the new map, the 5th Congressional District represented by Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver stretches farther into rural Missouri, while other districts also saw significant boundary changes.
The legal fight is expected to continue in the courts and could ultimately be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court.
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