ANNA BAILEY | News Editor | @AmBailey | Nov 4, 2025 Updated Nov 5, 202
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has filed a lawsuit over the recent redistricting of the Missouri Congressional Map.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the Missouri First Map into law Sept. 28. This map shows an adjusted version of the previous Missouri congressional map. Director of Communications for ACLU of Missouri Tom Bastian said the creation of this map violates the Missouri Constitution for multiple reasons, one of which being it was created less than a decade after the previous congressional map was signed into law.
Typically, the Missouri congressional map is redrawn every 10 years, according to Article 3, Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution, in order to make proportional adjustments based on population changes.
He said the lawsuit also argues that the map violates the compactness requirements, also laid out in Article 3, Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution.
“Under the new map, the current Congressional District 5 is split into three districts, with each encompassing a part of the Kansas City (Missouri) metropolitan area as well as rural parts of the state,” Bastian said in an email to the Missourian. “The lawsuit alleges that dividing Kansas City this way separates closely united communities, denying them coherent representation in Congress.”
Bastian said the map made in 2022 had Kansas City, Missouri, and surrounding areas within Congressional District 5. He said by including these communities within one district, it was determined they are all similar in their diversity, economics and city planning.
The Missouri First Map does not change two of the present districts. It also retains all members of the Missouri congressional delegation within the districts they represent, according to Kehoe’s website. The website also states there are fewer counties and municipalities split by the 2025 map.
The redistricting provisions were introduced to the Missouri House of Representatives Sept. 3, according to the Missouri House of Representatives; it was then presented to the Missouri Secretary of State Sept. 29. The bill was carried through this legislative process within one month. Bastian said this occurred quicker than it normally would have.
“In rushing the map through the legislative process, state officials also failed to properly allocate population between the new districts,” Bastian said.
As stated within the petition created by the ACLU of Missouri, the 2025 map should be taken out of law, and Missouri should go back to the 2022 map.
A political action group called People Not Politicians Missouri has filed a citizen’s referendum to put the new map on a Missouri ballot in 2026. This group argues that the 2025 map is an act of gerrymandering, which is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor one party or class, according to the English Oxford Dictionary
There must be at least 106,000 signatures gathered for the petition to be successful. In doing so, the 2025 map’s installment would be delayed until after the vote is completed, according to the National Public Radio.
Bastian said gerrymandered maps cause one political leaning to have more representation than the other. He said this tactic is used to give politicians the power to group residents based on how they might be perceived to vote. By doing this, Bastian said minority groups oftentimes become underrepresented.
“This unprecedented move is an attack on our democracy intended to take power away from voters and cement it in the federal government,” Bastian said. “Missouri voters should choose their elected officials, not (Washington,) D.C. elites hellbent on consolidating power at the federal level.”
Read the full article here: https://www.nwmissourinews.com/news/article_23b41112-8a38-42f5-94b9-50d287875b35.html