Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said Wednesday that she and other local election officials are in wait-and-see mode following conflicting signals about which maps the state will use in the November general election.
Speaking at a League of Women Voters event in Columbia, Lennon likened producing the right ballot to flipping a switch in the state’s voter registration database.
“Every voter is tied to their congressional district pursuant to the 2025 maps," she said. "But that did not overwrite the congressional districts that we’ve had since 2022. So every voter, right now, is simultaneously tied to both of their districts.”
However, Lennon said if the issue is not resolved by the beginning of early voting, voters could receive a ballot that’s still in flux. If any of those voters are later placed in a different district, some of their tallies could become invalid. Lennon said there would be no recourse in those cases, as state law doesn’t allow someone to vote twice.
Lessons from Secretary of State's Contempt Case
As Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins prepares to answer a possible contempt charge from the Missouri Supreme Court Thursday morning, Lennon said Hoskins’ rebuke for telling election officials not to follow the high court’s order to use the 2022 congressional map in this year’s elections sends a clear message.
“It is a pretty big signifier that if I, as a local election official, were to verbally announce that I was going to use the new maps, I would be in contempt of the Supreme Court of Missouri,” she said.
Lennon said she's hopeful that, with a few weeks to go before voting begins, there's still time to resolve the question of which maps to abide by.