redistricting

A top DOJ official has suggested the agency supports scrutinizing the districts. The demand seems to extend the Supreme Court’s April 29 decision that limited states from using race to draw districts.

The court will hear arguments that it should throw out the map passed by Republicans in a special session because it makes districts that are not compact. In the second case, the judges will consider whether a referendum filing automatically prevents a new law from taking effect.

While the decision is a loss for redistricting opponents, it does not necessarily mean the map passed last year will be in place for the 2026 election.

Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe removed some of Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' phrases describing the old and new redistricting plans.

The Republican-drawn congressional map divides Kansas City into three districts, and lumps the urban core with rural communities 200 miles away. While the map was upheld by a Jackson County judge, multiple other lawsuits against Missouri's mid-decade redistricting have yet to be decided.

An attorney for Secretary of State Denny Hoskins told a judge that the original ballot summary for a referendum on Missouri's gerrymandered congressional map is "inherently argumentative" and should be revised

While a federal court decision Monday gives Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins the chance to reject the referendum, backers of the plan aren't expecting that move to hold up in state court.

Attorneys for People Not Politicians said in court Monday that a judge should rule against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' actions on the proposed congressional redistricting referendum.

The federal case is one of multiple legal battles over the mid-decade redistricting.

A coalition of organizations in Missouri is working to try to overturn House Bill 1, which created a new Congressional map for the state.