By Jen Rice | January 7, 2026
State officials have sorted through more than 300,000 signatures gathered to block Republicans’ new Missouri congressional map, as the fate of the GOP gerrymander remains in legal limbo. The officials rejected one-third of signatures as invalid based on the date they were collected – a decision that referendum organizers are challenging in court.
The other two-thirds of the signatures were considered valid and have been submitted to local election authorities for further counting and verification, according to a status update filed Monday by People Not Politicians, the group organizing the referendum petition, amid its legal challenge to the rejections.
The Missouri constitution gives voters the right to veto measures passed by the state legislature if they collect signatures from at least 5% of voters in two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts – roughly 106,000 signatures given Missouri’s current population – and submit the signatures within 90 days of the legislative session’s adjournment.
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, said in a statement Wednesday: “The overwhelming number of signatures makes clear what we have said all along – people, not politicians, will have the final say on this gerrymander. Every Missourian has to participate in our referendum process and we are committed to making sure all voices are heard, whether they are ‘necessary’ for qualification or not. The SOS has no right to arbitrarily decide who gets to petition their government and who doesn’t.”
To challenge the GOP gerrymander, the 90-day countdown began Sept. 12, the day the legislature gave final approval to the map and adjourned the session. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed the bill into law Sept. 28.
But Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, an elected Republican, has weaponized the administrative process in hopes of thwarting the referendum – echoing a similar maneuver Republicans deployed in 2019, when they blocked Missourians from holding a referendum vote on the state’s newly-passed abortion ban.
To help stop the anti-gerrymander referendum, Hoskins delayed approving the referendum petition for circulation until Oct. 15. He announced that any signatures gathered prior to that date were invalid.
A trial in the signature rejection case was held Dec. 8. The following day, People Not Politicians turned in more than 300,000 signatures, submitting almost triple the required amount.
Missouri Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh issued an order Dec. 12, holding the case in abeyance – temporarily suspending a ruling until after either enough signatures have been certified to hold the referendum or enough signatures have been rejected so as to prevent the referendum from taking place.
People Not Politicians submitted their status update to the court Monday, reporting that the Secretary of State’s office has deemed invalid 16,695 of the 49,763 pages of signatures.
Numerous other legal challenges related to the Missouri gerrymander remain ongoing. Missouri voters are asking a court to block the state from using the new map until after the referendum vote takes place. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday on the plaintiffs’ motion to expedite the trial.
Read the article here: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/missouri-officials-reject-one-third-of-signatures-in-anti-gerrymander-referendum-dispute/