We Might Finally See Consequences for Gerrymandering Abuses

For exactly one year, Missouri has been locked in a confusing legal battle over which congressional map it can use for the November elections, a byproduct of President Donald Trump pressuring GOP-run states to squeeze out more Republican House seats for this year’s midterms. Hundreds of thousands of Missourians coalesced to stop the madness via referendum petition, hoping to put the question of whether to use a new gerrymandered map more favorable to Republicans passed by the state Legislature last year or a 2022 map directly to voters. Their efforts were thwarted by Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who rejected the petition right at the deadline, hours before the state’s primary election last month. A messy legal battle ensued, and earlier this month the Missouri Supreme Court sided with the petitioners, finding Hoskins in contempt while validating the legality of the referendum petition. Meanwhile, election officials are slated to begin sending out mail ballots to overseas and military voters this Friday, while candidates for office and voters are still consumed by chaos , unsure of which district they belong to or which office-seekers will be on their ballots.

Further escalating the drama is a fresh lawsuit brought by Missouri residents who are suing Hoskins over his handling of the referendum petition, invoking an obscure state statute that allows those aggrieved by the secretary of state to receive a monetary payment. If successful, Missouri could end up paying out a sum close to $80 million.

Buried in Missouri’s Constitution is a statute under Section 28.200 that says if the secretary of state should “neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties enjoined on him by law,” then aggrieved individuals are legally allowed to recover between $100 and $500 from them. Five Missouri residents who are each registered voters and signed onto the referendum petition over the state’s new congressional map filed a lawsuit against Hoskins last week, and they invoke this statute by arguing his actions when rejecting the petition were “illegal and contumacious.” Despite over 330,000 self-identified Missouri registered voters signing onto the petition, which was verified by local election authorities, Hoskins refused to certify it. Though he did not dispute the validity of the signatures, he argued, ultimately unsuccessfully, that acts of the Missouri Legislature that related to congressional districts simply were not subject to the people’s referendum power.

The lawsuit explains how in early September, the Missouri Supreme Court found that the referendum petition was legally valid, declared the new gerrymandered congressional map was never effective, and then ordered Hoskins to proceed with using the old 2022 congressional map for the upcoming November election. This is where things get confusing, as three days after the Missouri Supreme Court issued its ruling, Hoskins ran to the U.S. Supreme Court to file an appeal, which Justice Brett Kavanaugh flatly rejected . Desperate to keep their gerrymandered map alive, Missouri Republican Rep. Robert Onder filed a competing lawsuit immediately after SCOTUS’ decision.