Overview
- People Not Politicians submitted roughly 300,000 signatures, far exceeding the approximately 107,000 needed from six districts to force a vote.
- Under Missouri law, submitting signatures suspends the new map until the secretary of state completes certification.
- Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must verify the petitions and has signaled he may exclude about 92,000 signatures gathered before the governor signed the bill, an issue now before a state judge.
- A federal judge dismissed the attorney general’s bid to block the referendum in federal court, directing constitutional disputes to state court.
- The Republican-drawn plan is designed in a way likely to flip Kansas City–area Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s seat and produce a 7–1 GOP delegation, and any referendum would default to the November 2026 ballot unless lawmakers set an earlier date.