Missouri GOP Gerrymander Faces Legal Battles on Multiple Fronts
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – A new congressional map passed by Missouri Republicans is facing a barrage of legal challenges, including lawsuits arguing the map violates the state constitution and aggressive tactics to block a citizen-led referendum effort. The disputes center on whether mid-decade redistricting is permitted under Missouri law and the validity of over 100,000 signatures gathered to challenge the map.
three separate lawsuits contend that the Missouri Constitution prohibits redistricting outside of the decennial census cycle. Plaintiffs’ attorney Chuck Hatfield explained after a Wednesday trial, “The Missouri Constitution makes it very clear that redistricting shall be done when the state of Missouri gets new census figures…and thay’re not allowed to do it again until they get new census data.” He anticipates the case will ultimately be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court,which currently has a 5-2 Republican-appointed majority,potentially as early as January or Febuary.
Plaintiffs point to a 2012 missouri Supreme Court ruling stating redistricting “can occur only immediately following the certification of the census and cannot occur again until a subsequent census is certified.” However, the Missouri Republican State Committee argues that the state constitution does not expressly forbid mid-decade redistricting. A GOP attorney further asserted the legislature has exclusive power over redistricting,invoking the “independent legislature theory,” a controversial legal doctrine.
Together,a state judge is considering the validity of thousands of signatures collected for a citizen referendum aimed at blocking the new map. Organizers,led by Richard von Glahn of People Not Politicians,must gather over 106,000 valid signatures by December 11th to put the measure to a vote. State officials are currently arguing that only signatures collected after Governor mike Kehoe (R) signed the map into law on September 28th are valid, potentially invalidating as many as 100,000 signatures.
The Missouri General Assembly initially passed the gerrymandered map on September 12th. Beyond the signature dispute, state officials have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the referendum itself and have previously attempted to reject the petition for being filed prematurely and proposed what organizers claim is deceptive ballot language.A preliminary injunction hearing in the federal lawsuit is scheduled for November 25th.
