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missouri
'Promising Milestone': Missouri Campaign Submits Signatures to Protect Voter-Approved Laws
"What voters are saying now is that democracy is sacred."
May 04, 2026
Organizers in Missouri on Sunday said they reached an important milestone in a campaign to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this year that would stop Republican officials in the state from trying to sabotage ballot initiatives.
Respect Missouri Voters, a coalition aimed at protecting and strengthening the state's ballot initiative process, announced that it has delivered more than 367,000 signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State's office in favor of a constitutional amendment that enact two key policies to protect voter-passed laws.
First, as the Fairness Project summarized on Monday, it would "require that all future ballot measures in the state be summarized for voters in fair, clear, and easily understandable terms"; and second, it would demand "that any attempt by the Legislature to refer a voter-approved measure back to the ballot clear an 80% threshold in each chamber, a high bar designed to prevent politicians from undoing what voters have already decided."
The first part of the amendment is aimed at addressing problems created by Republican Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who has repeatedly been taken to court for writing ballot initiative summaries that advocates say are misleading or provide incomplete information about what the initiatives would do.
As the Missouri Independent reported in February, a total of five summaries written by Hoskins have been thrown out by courts since October, as "judges at every level of Missouri’s court system have stepped in to block or rewrite ballot language" drafted by the secretary of state.
The second part of the amendment, meanwhile, was written in response to Republican legislators' efforts to overturn ballot initiatives passed in 2024 that legalized abortion in Missouri and established mandatory paid sick leave.
Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, a key backer of Respect Missouri Voters, said the gathering of more than 367,000 signatures is "a promising milestone for Missouri voters and for direct democracy."
"Perhaps more than in any other state, voters in Missouri understand what is at stake,” Hall added. "It’s in Missouri that extremist politicians have worked overtime to undermine the will of their voters, whether it’s been fighting to reinstate a wildly unpopular ban on access to abortion care, gerrymandering congressional districts, or undermining the ballot measure process. What voters are saying now is that democracy is sacred."
However, it's not just Missouri where direct democracy is under attack. The Fairness Project reported last September that “extremist” legislators across the United States “escalated their efforts to dismantle the ballot measure process in 2025 by 95%.”
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Virginia Democrats Pass New Political Map to Combat Trump—But Court Battles Continue
"Virginia has to fight back," said state House Speaker Don Scott. "We can't stand by and do nothing but to do everything in our power to level the playing field."
Feb 20, 2026
Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly on Friday passed a new potential congressional map and a later primary date—but it came after a setback in court for a pending referendum in which voters would decide whether to redistrict to combat a national GOP gerrymandering effort launched last year by Republican President Donald Trump.
After advancing in a 21-18 Virginia Senate vote on Thursday, HB29 was approved by the House of Delegates 59-35, with five Democrats not voting. The bill still needs a signature from Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, but VPM reported that House Speaker Don Scott (D-80) expects her to sign it as soon as Saturday, or by Monday at the latest.
"Virginia has to fight back," Scott said, accusing Trump of trying to rig the November midterm elections for the Republican Party. "We can't stand by and do nothing but to do everything in our power to level the playing field."
Spanberger—who is set to deliver Democrats' response to Trump's State of the Union speech next week—similarly said when she approved the referendum that "Virginia has the opportunity and responsibility to be responsive in the face of efforts across the country to change maps."
Trump has convinced Republicans in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri to redraw their congressional maps in a bid to hold on to the GOP's dwindling majority in the US House of Representatives. That led to various court battles, a new voter-approved map in California crafted to benefit Democrats, and the ongoing fight for a similar one in Virginia.
If Virginia voters support Democrats' constitutional amendment to temporarily redistrict, the new map would give the party an advantage in 10 of the state's 11 congressional districts, and the June 16 primary would be delayed until August 4. However, a Thursday court order puts the referendum, scheduled for April 21, in jeopardy.
GOP-appointed Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order sought by the Republican National Committee, which is challenging the state Democrats' redistricting endeavor alongside the National Republican Congressional Committee and GOP US Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith.
In a written order that followed a bench decision, the judge prohibited Virginia officials from "administering, preparing for, taking any action to further the procedure of the referendum, or otherwise moving forward with causing an election to be held on the proposed constitutional amendment" until March 18. Early voting was set to start on March 6.
Thursday was the second time that Hurley "ruled against Democrats' redistricting agenda. In January, he ruled that a resolution for a constitutional amendment was illegally passed in a special legislative session and taken up too close to an intervening election," the Associated Press noted. "That case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, and justices had said they would allow the referendum to proceed while they review the appeal."
Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones also vowed to challenge the temporary restraining order, saying in a statement that "my office will immediately appeal the ruling issued by the Tazewell County Circuit Court. These arguments are already before the Supreme Court of Virginia, the proper forum to consider the arguments, which has set a schedule for receiving arguments and has justifiably allowed the vote to proceed during this time."
Meanwhile, in Missouri, a four-day bench trial over Republicans' gerrymandering wrapped up before the Circuit Court of Jackson County. That GOP map targets the state's 5th Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
"Missouri's mid-decade gerrymander is a lose-lose situation for voters in Kansas City and those in smaller rural communities," said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation, which is supporting plaintiffs in the case. "The strategic manipulation of district lines breaks up long-standing communities and forces urban and rural communities with vastly different needs to share the same member of Congress, which will now make these communities compete for their voices to be heard in Congress."
"What's happening in Missouri is not happening in a vacuum. The national gerrymandering crisis that Donald Trump and DC Republicans started in Texas, continued in Missouri and North Carolina, and it is showing no signs of stopping at this point," she said. "No one wins this race to the bottom. Least of all the American people. This court should send a strong signal that unconstitutional gerrymanders will not be tolerated in Missouri."
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After Judge Tosses GOP Lawsuit, Missouri Voters Submit Signatures for Referendum on Rigged Map
"The citizens of Missouri have spoken loudly and clearly: They deserve fair maps, not partisan manipulation,” said one campaigner.
Dec 09, 2025
Opponents of Missouri's GOP-rigged congressional map on Tuesday submitted more than twice the required number of signatures supporting a referendum on the redistricting scheme backed by US President Donald Trump, a move that followed a federal judge's refusal to block the initiative.
The political action committee People Not Politicians turned in more than 300,000 signatures in support of the referendum to Republican Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' office in what the group called an "unprecedented show of grassroots power."
The submission—which filled 691 boxes—will be reviewed by state election officials tasked with certifying the validity of the roughly 110,000 signatures required for qualification on the November 2026 ballot. If the signatures are approved, the state would be temporarily prohibited from adopting the new map until after the referendum vote.
Hoskins initially rejected People Not Politicians' referendum petition because Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, had not yet signed the redrawn map into law. Hoskins said he would reject any signatures collected before Kehoe approved the map in September. At that time, People Not Politicians had collected around 92,000 signatures.
“The citizens of Missouri have spoken loudly and clearly: They deserve fair maps, not partisan manipulation,” People Not Politicians executive director Richard von Glahn said in a statement. “We are submitting a record number of signatures to shut down any doubt that Missouri voters want a say.”
The submission followed a Monday ruling by US District Judge Zachary Bluestone—a Trump appointee—rejecting Republican Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's bid to block the referendum on grounds that the court had no jurisdiction over a lawsuit filed by Hoskins and the GOP-controlled state Legislature arguing that state referendums on congressional maps are unconstitutional.
Supporters of Missouri's referendum are seeking to block redistricting legislation passed in September as part of Trump's push for Republican-controlled state legislatures to rig congressional maps in a bid to preserve GOP control of Congress by eliminating Democratic-leaning districts.
Texas was the first state to do Trump’s bidding by approving a new congressional map that could help Republicans gain five additional House seats. Last week, the US Supreme Court's right-wing majority gave Texas Republicans a green light to use the rigged map in next year's election.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to Texas' move by spearheading a successful ballot initiative to redraw the Golden State's congressional map in favor his party. Under pressure from Trump, Republican lawmakers in Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina launched their own gerrymandering efforts.
In Missouri, Republicans are aiming to win seven of the state's eight congressional seats, including by flipping the 5th District, which is currently held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
Responding to Tuesday's signature submission, Missouri state Rep. Ray Reed (D-83) said on social media that "today, the people of Missouri did something powerful. Organizers across our state: young folks, retirees, faith leaders, neighbors talking to neighbors, came together to defend the idea that in a democracy, voters should choose their leaders, not the other way around."
"Missouri just showed the country what fighting back looks like and I’m proud to stand with the people who made it happen," Reed added.
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