最新杏吧原创

In the fourth lawsuit filed in response to the Republican congressional redistricting gambit, a group seeking to take the new boundaries to a vote of the people next year says Secretary of State Denny Hoskins is illegally stalling the process needed to place the question on the ballot.

The organization, People Not Politicians, said Hoskins, a Republican, violated the state鈥檚 open records laws by failing to post their referendum paperwork on the Secretary of State鈥檚 website in a timely fashion.

鈥淧eople Not Politicians have followed the legal referendum process and law to the letter. And yet, instead of respecting the process, politicians continue to play games with democracy in an attempt to silence the people they are sworn to serve,鈥� said Richard von Glahn, director of the group.

In the lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court Thursday, attorneys argue that Hoskins claimed the petition sample sheets cannot be processed because the governor has not signed the legislation creating new congressional boundaries that will transform a safe Democratic seat in the Kansas City area into a Republican-leaning district.

The lawsuit says the secretary must post the information regardless of when the governor takes action because the ability to challenge a new law at the ballot is based on when the General Assembly 鈥� not the chief executive 鈥� acts.

Delays by Hoskins could affect the group鈥檚 ability to collect 116,000 signatures within a 90-day window prescribed in state law.

鈥淎 rejection of the referenda sample sheets hinders plaintiffs鈥� right to place a referendum before the voters,鈥� the lawsuit notes.

The group is asking a judge to bar Hoskins from rejecting the petitions.

鈥淟et us be absolutely clear: Missourians have a long-held constitutional right to the referendum. While politicians stall, People Not Politicians is taking action. We have 90 days to collect 116,000 signatures. And given the groundswell of outrage across the state, we are confident Missourians will rise to this moment,鈥� von Glahn said.

Hoskins, a former state senator, did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The office has posted the referendum information, but has not confirmed that the language conforms to state law, said attorney Chuck Hatfield, who is the lead attorney in the case.

Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session in late August after President Donald Trump signaled he wanted to gerrymander congressional districts to secure more safe Republican seats in the U.S. House in the run-up to the 2026 mid-term elections. The governor has said he will sign the new maps into law but has not taken action, saying the legislation his office drafted is under review.

The slower response stands in contrast to the frenetic pace set by the Legislature, where the GOP-controlled Senate pushed through the maps in two days last week by altering long-standing rules in the chamber to completely eliminate all debate.

The newest lawsuit marks the fourth attempt by opponents to torpedo the new boundaries, which will leave 最新杏吧原创鈥� 1st Congressional District as the lone Democratic stronghold among the state鈥檚 eight districts.

The new map stretches the Kansas City-focused 5th district into mid-Missouri, picking up rural Republican areas in an attempt to make it harder for Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to win a 12th term in Congress.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed two of the lawsuits citing a number of problems with the maps, including one that puts more than 800 voters in two Kansas City precincts into two of the newly drawn districts.

The NAACP also is fighting the legality of the special session itself, arguing that there was no compelling reason for Kehoe to call lawmakers back to the Capitol to redraw the boundaries just three years after approving the current maps following the completion of the 2020 U.S. census.

A fifth lawsuit also could emerge. Cleaver said earlier that he would sue over the new maps.