The League of Women Voters of Missouri is planning to be at the state capitol in Jefferson City when the Senate goes into session Wednesday.
Last week, a House special committee on redistricting approved a plan to change the state’s Congressional map. The vote was 10 to 4 along party lines. The vote came during a special session called by Governor Mike Kehoe after a push from President Donald Trump to do so ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The state League of Women Voters President Kay Parks said they respect the need to redistrict after each census to account for population changes. But they oppose redistricting mid-cycle.
"Mid-cycle redistricting primarily has the purpose of gerrymandering for partisan reasons, and that's the main reason why we are opposed to it," she said. "If a state were ordered to redistrict because it had been determined that the districts were not fair, then that's really the only other reason that redistricting should be done mid-cycle."
Parks said redistricting should be done by a bipartisan committee that divides districts up fairly, which some states have. Missouri does not.
"It's completely up to the legislature, and with the Republican-controlled legislature in the state of Missouri, they can basically do whatever they would like to do," she said, "and that's what's happening right now."
The proposed Congressional map for Missouri puts Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City in jeopardy of losing his seat. Parks said that would take away the votes of the people who voted Democratic. And, she said, combining inner city Kansas City with rural parts of Missouri, would also affect the people who live in the less-populated parts of the district.
Parks said the League of Women Voters works to preserve the votes of U.S. citizens – so that each person has one vote and is fairly represented in Congress.
"It's (a) sad state of affairs to require one state to redistrict and then other states feel they have to redistrict in order to counter the states that have done it in a partisan way," she said.
She fears that people would no longer feel that their vote counts, and that would lead to fewer voters participating in elections.
Missouri Representative Darin Chappell (R-137) said on KSGF Tuesday he believes the new map is the opposite of gerrymandering.
"It's the ungerrymandering of Missouri that we're doing," he said, adding that he believes the new map "will be representative of the population in the state of Missouri."
He pointed out that "the clutching of pearls over this is hypocritical by those individuals who have no problem gerrymandering in other states."
Governor Kehoe said in a statement that he called the special session to ensure the state’s districts "truly put Missouri values first."
“This is about clarity for voters and ownership of our future," he said, "and I hope the legislature will work together to pass our Missouri First Map."
Missouri's initiative petition process
Parks said the League of Women Voter of Missouri also opposes the effort during the special session to amend the state's initiative petition process. The change, if approved by voters, would require that measures put before voters through the initiative petition process garner a majority of the vote in each of Missouri's eight congressional districts in order to pass. But measures put on the ballot by the state legislature would require only a simple statewide majority.
"By making this initiative petition process so stringent that all eight districts have to pass it," said Parks, "we will never be able to get any initiative petition passed again in the state, so it basically takes away the voice of the people."
Kehoe said in a statement, “For far too long, Missouri’s Constitution has been the victim of out-of-state special interests who deceive voters to pass out-of-touch policies. It's time we give voters a chance to protect our Constitution.”
Parks said the LWV of Missouri and other groups that oppose the redistricting plan and the proposal to change the initiative petition process will testify at the state capitol to let legislators know that Missourians don't agree with what they are doing.
"Both of these things will leave people without the ability to use their voice and have their voice heard by the legislature," she said.
