Missouri Supreme Court rules on redistricting referendum: Map must be put to voteState Supreme Court reverses circuit court decisionThe Missouri Supreme Court has made a decision on the validity of a referendum related to the redrawn congressional map. The state’s highest court ruled unanimously in favor of the map’s opponents, determining that the map must be included on the ballot for public voting. “The referendum petition was legal, sufficient and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the ruling said. “HB 1 did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until it is approved by voters.” The Missouri Supreme Court said congressional redistricting established in 2022 “remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election.” On August 4, 2026, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins declared an attempted referendum insufficient despite the necessary signatures. Hoskins said it wasn’t about the signatures and that the petition could have “500 million signatures” but that the challenge itself would still be unconstitutional. That determination spawned the latest case in the state Supreme Court and ultimately led to Thursday’s ruling. “This is democracy, the people of Missouri demanded a voice and the court just confirmed what we’ve been saying all along. The people, not the politicians, will have the final say,” Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, said in a news release. “This victory goes beyond Missouri. In a year when map-drawing has become a national weapon, courts across the country are watching what happens here. A Missouri victory in the referendum is a sign that the people still have the power.” It is the latest ruling in a long legal battle over the constitutionality and applicability of a new congressional map. The new map has been at the center of political controversy since its creation and subsequent approval by Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe on September 28, 2025. Several lawsuits over the congressional map have traveled through the state’s court system. Opponents attempted to reject the map, arguing that it was not compact and that the timing of its issuance, in the middle of the decade, made it unconstitutional. But the Missouri Supreme Court dismissed both claims and ruled the map was constitutional. The Missouri Supreme Court, in a separate ruling Thursday, ordered that Amendment 6 be placed on the November ballot. If passed, it would strengthen Missouri’s initiative and the referendum process, limiting lawmakers’ ability to change or repeal voter-approved measures. The court found that Hoskins incorrectly stated that the petition was insufficient. Immediate Next Steps The court ordered Hoskins to issue a certificate of sufficiency with respect to the referendum and place the referendum petition on the November 2026 ballot. The court also ordered Hoskins to “take any and all additional steps necessary” to place the referendum petition on the ballot by September 8. “The Secretary and all those acting in conjunction with him are restricted and prohibited from implementing, using, or directing the use of congressional redistricting in HB 1 for the November 2026 general election or at any time thereafter, unless and until HB 1 is approved by voters in the November 2026 general election and takes effect 30 days later,” the ruling says. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway told KMBC that she is requesting an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to use a new congressional map. “Yeah, it was a shock. I’ll be totally honest,” Hanaway said when asked about the ruling. When asked if his office would accept the old congressional map if the Supreme Court does not grant the emergency stay, Hanaway said yes. “Well, after we’ve exhausted all of our appeals, of course that’s what we have to do. But I strongly suspect that there will be new lawsuits filed by those who won the primaries in the new districts, who think that not only are their voters being disenfranchised, but they’re seeing free speech, right?” Missourians and a rejection of the legislature’s attempt to flip their district from Democratic to Republican control. “In terms of reaction, a sigh of relief? It’s a relief, but I think more than a relief, it’s sending signals to people across the state of Missouri that the voice of the people still rings loud and solid in the ears of the Supreme Court,” Cleaver said. Republican state Senator Rick Brattin, Cleaver’s opponent, criticized the ruling, calling it unconstitutional and disrespectful with “Now, we will have almost 25,000 people who voted for me who will go to the polls in a few weeks and they will vote for a new candidate, a new person to represent them, who will be in the third Congress. And in the fourth, there will be almost 40,000 people who will go to the polls. Who am I going to go for? vote? I just voted for Rick Brattin. Who am I going to vote for?” Brattin said. Brattin also stated that he plans to take legal action in response to the ruling. Cleaver has won at least 60 percent of the vote in the last two elections with the current district. If the 2025 map had stood, he would be running in a district with more registered Republicans.
