In the wake of a key Missouri Supreme Court decision, a group seeking to overturn a GOP-friendly congressional map wants Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to decide the fate of its referendum now.
But that's not likely to happen. And Hoskins is dismissing the idea that waiting to decide on the referendum until late July or early August would place the legitimacy of the primary election in doubt.
Late last year, the group People Not Politicians turned in signatures to place a congressional map approved by the Republican-dominated legislature in 2025 up for a statewide vote. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the submission of those signatures did not suspend that map – which targets Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.
Citing preliminary data showing his group has enough signatures for the referendum to qualify for the November 2026 election, People Not Politicians' Richard von Glahn called on Hoskins to make a decision now on the referendum's fate, suspend the 2025 map and put the 2022 map in place.
Waiting until late July or August, von Glahn said Wednesday, would likely create a chaotic legal situation in which the legitimacy of the Aug. 4 primary is put into question.
"The secretary is taking on tremendous risk if he proceeds with trying to force [the 2025 map] into effect, because he could be forcing an election based on a completely illegal and fabricated set of boundaries," von Glahn said.
Chuck Hatfield, an attorney with People Not Politicians, acknowledged that Hoskins likely can wait until late July or early August to make a decision. But he said the consequences of that choice could be far reaching.
"What happens next is chaos," Hatfield said. "One could speculate that a candidate might file a lawsuit and say: 'Well, the primaries were conducted using the wrong maps.' That is what Missouri calls an election irregularity, and a candidate could legitimately ask, I think, that the primary elections be set aside."
Hoskins doesn't plan to act soon
Hoskins told reporters Tuesday that he doesn't plan to make a determination immediately on whether the referendum qualified for the ballot. He reiterated that expectation in an interview on Wednesday.
"There's county clerks and local election authorities that are still verifying those signatures, and they have until July 27," Hoskins said. "And in order to do that, I want to make sure that everyone's voice is heard. I can start my certification procedures on July 28 and obviously they have to be completed by August 4."
He added he's had questions about whether a congressional map can be put up for a referendum. Hatfield said that the U.S. Supreme Court explicitly said that a map could be put for a statewide vote.
He said he doubted that the 2022 map would be put into effect if he ends up approving the referendum.
"I would say that it's too far along in the election in order to change the maps for 2026," Hoskins said. "Now, if the referendum is certified sufficient, and it does go on the ballot in November of 2026 [and the new map is voted down] – there is a possibility that in 2028 that it could revert back to the old maps."
Eddie Greim is a Kansas City-based attorney who helped write an amicus brief on behalf of St. Charles County Elections Director Kurt Bahr in this case. Bahr argued in that filing that forcing clerks to run congressional elections under the 2022 map would spur "mass chaos and confusion."
He said in an email that "it would be impossible to abruptly 'stay' these districts for a federal election" before voting in the Aug. 4 primary is over.
"By then, hundreds of thousands of votes will likely have been submitted by overseas and absentee voters," Greim said. "And there would be federal due process problems with having the primaries under one set of districts and the general election under another set.
"This may well be a situation where the U.S. Constitution would require the election to occur under the [2025 districts], at least for 2026."
Boone County clerk also wants clarity
Meanwhile, Boone County's top election official said residents will vote under the 2022 congressional districts until Hoskins makes a decision on the referendum.
In a letter to Hoskins sent on Wednesday, Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon wrote that she "will not be redrawing districts until your office issues a determination on the sufficiency of the referendum petition filed with your office on December 9, 2025."
She cited a part of the Supreme Court decision in which Judge Ginger Gooch wrote "it is impossible to say as of this opinion whether the December 9 referendum petition filing was 'legal, sufficient, and timely' and, therefore, whether HB1 when into effect on December 11 or whether HB1 was referred to the people as of December 9 and can only go into effect when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon."
Lennon, a Democrat, wrote: "As a result, I am caught in the untenable position of trying to predict when and how you will issue a determination about the sufficiency of the petition. Until that time, I have no actionable legal information as to what congressional district map is in effect so I will not be making any changes to the map that was in place prior to the enactment of [the 2025 map]."
In response, Hoskins said that Lennon was "not doing her job."
"She's going to defy the direction provided by myself, the chief election officer of the state of Missouri, and defy the direction provided by Attorney General Hanaway," said Hoskins, adding that he'll have a formal response to Lennon by Thursday morning.
Lennon said that she's worked with her staff to prepare to run elections in Boone County under the 2025 map. "I've done my job, and I'm waiting for him to do his," Lennon said.
St. Louis County Democratic Elections Director Eric Fey said it's too soon to say whether his election authority will also use 2022 maps until Hoskins makes a referendum decision. He said the St. Louis County Board of Elections Commissioners meets next week.
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