Missourians are mobilizing to give voters a chance to block the state’s new Trump-ordered GOP gerrymander, via ballot measure. But Republican officials are pulling out all the stops to stymie the effort.
Last month, a pro-voting coalition filed a petition with the state to hold a referendum on the gerrymander, which Republicans rammed through the legislature to create a new GOP congressional seat at the expense of Kansas City’s Black voters. If organizers can gather enough signatures, the gerrymander would be blocked for the 2026 midterms, and voters would decide next year whether to reject it permanently.
But on advice from Attorney General Catherine Hanaway (R), Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) rejected the petition as premature, because the gerrymander hadn’t yet been signed into law at the time it was filed.
The coalition, People Not Politicians (PNP), is challenging the rejection in court, noting that to justify it, Hanaway cited a section of the state constitution that applies to citizen-initiated amendments, not referenda — a different type of voter-initiated measure. They also argue that state officials can only reject a referendum petition “as to form,” meaning for issues with the paperwork itself — like font size or formatting. Hoskins’ decision to reject it for being filed “too early,” they argue, was not a matter of form at all.
But even if the rejection is reversed, it isn’t clear whether the over 20,000 signatures gathered before Hoskins rejected the petition will be allowed to count. That could make organizers’ already tough task — by December 11, they must collect signatures from at least 5% of voters in two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts, for a total of just over 106,000 valid signatures — even harder.
Voting rights advocates say the GOP maneuver is meant to strip Missourians of a safeguard that has been part of state law for more than a century.
“We are continuing to gather signatures because we know the attorney general cited a completely irrelevant section of the constitution,” PNP director Richard Von Glahn told Democracy Docket.
“The big question will be whether or not signatures gathered before Sunday will count,” Von Glahn added. “It’s clear to us that they should, but we’re just continuing to gather.”
Von Glahn described the grassroots push as unprecedented.
“We gathered over 4,500 signatures in Kansas City in a single day. We’re having a great response from folks,” he said. “We have over 3,000 people who’ve asked to be trained and are now going through the training process. I think we’re in a great spot.”
Hanaway and Hoskins did not respond to requests for comments.
Hoskins, Missouri’s top election official, has said he wants to ban voting machines and hand count all ballots, as well as doing away with dropboxes, mail voting, and absentee voting. He spoke at an election denier conference this year.
Missouri’s constitution gives citizens the power of referendum — often called a “citizen’s veto” — allowing voters to approve or reject laws passed by the General Assembly. Article III, Section 49 vests lawmaking power in the people, and Section 52(a) makes clear that any law passed by the legislature may be referred to the people, with only narrow exceptions. Missourians have had this constitutional right since at least 1945.
Missourians have used their right to referendum to check their legislature in recent years. In 2018, voters repealed the Republican-backed “right-to-work” law through a referendum, handing organized labor one of its most decisive victories in decades. And in 2022, the Missouri Supreme Court reaffirmed that the referendum power of citizens is “integral to Missouri’s democratic system” and cannot be obstructed by procedural roadblocks, striking down legislative attempts to block a referendum on a near-total abortion ban.
Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, told Democracy Docket what is happening in Missouri is part of a much bigger national campaign by the GOP to dismantle direct democracy. Especially after voters take action in ways contrary to the GOP’s agenda.
“For decades, voters in Missouri and across the country have turned to the ballot measure process to improve the material conditions of their lives — from raising the minimum wage to expanding Medicaid to protecting reproductive health care,” she said. “The referendum process is a really critical check on government — it’s about holding power accountable and ensuring the policies passed by lawmakers are actually responsive to the people they serve.”
Missouri is one of 26 states that give citizens the right to direct democracy through ballot measures, including initiatives and referendums. But in 2025 alone, Republicans across the country introduced more than 150 bills to restrict those rights — tightening signature requirements, shortening timelines, raising thresholds or adding procedural traps designed to kill petitions before they ever reach the ballot.
“This assault on citizen-led initiatives is a visible symptom of growing authoritarianism in the United States,” Fields Figueredo said. “Rejecting the referendum without letting it go to the people’s vote is unconstitutional. When politicians use the system to benefit themselves instead of the people, that sets us on a path closer to authoritarianism.”
For Missourians, the stakes could not be higher. The referendum fight is not the only legal challenge HB 1 faces. Multiple lawsuits argue the law itself violates Missouri’s constitution. They contend that mid-decade redistricting is not permitted without a triggering event like a new census, and that HB 1 produces districts that are neither contiguous nor compact, violating the state constitution.
Missouri is not acting in isolation in gerrymandering its map to help the GOP. President Donald Trump and his allies have pushed Republicans in multiple states to pursue mid-decade gerrymanders in advance of the 2026 elections. Texas passed its own gerrymandered map earlier this year, which is now being challenged in court. Republican leaders in other states are preparing similar efforts.
For Von Glahn, the fight is about something larger than a single map.
“Voters don’t want to be pawns in a politician’s game. What we want are politicians who are accountable to us and who can focus on our needs. And that’s not about being a Republican or a Democrat,” he said. “We want to make sure that we can have elections where politicians of all types can face actual accountability from voters. And we think that builds a stronger and healthier democracy.”