All parties are set to meet Wednesday in the first hearing for a political campaign committee's case accusing Missouri officials of pressuring county clerks to use a gerrymandered congressional map for voter rolls in their counties.
A decision in the case could affect the 2026 primary and general elections, which are tied to whichever congressional map is in effect.
People Not Politicians filed their lawsuit against Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and Attorney General Catherine Hanaway in May. The group is seeking a court injunctive to stop the secretary's and attorney general's "attempts to intimidate and coerce elected officials."
Wednesday's civil setting is set to start at 9 a.m. in Cole County.
On Monday, the political action committee Put Missouri First and the Republican National Convention were granted a motion to intervene in the case.
A third party can file a motion to intervene when they want to join an ongoing lawsuit where their rights or interests could be directly impacted by the outcome.
Republican state lawmakers passed the new map in a special session last fall after encouragement from President Donald Trump. Since then, Hoskins and Hanaway have publicly maintained the validity of new congressional map.
The lawsuit comes as several county clerks have expressed confusion about whether the congressional map, which is designed to help Republicans pick up an additional U.S. House seat, is in effect. Some Republican lawmakers have called for these clerks to face punishment and even removal from office, in some instances.
People Not Politicians submitted more than 300,000 signatures last September to try to stop the gerrymandered map from taking effect until there is a statewide vote on it. This process is called a referendum.
The lawsuit accuses Hoskins of delaying the verification of the signatures submitted by People Not Politicians, and asks he be ordered to immediately issue a certificate on whether the referendum is sufficient or not.
