Background
Missouri’s General Assembly passed House Bill 1 in September 2025 to replace the state’s 2022 congressional-district map. Referendum proponents filed petition 2026-R004 before HB 1’s effective date and later submitted more than 300,000 purported signatures. The parties did not dispute the petition’s timeliness or that it met the constitutional signature requirement.
On August 4, 2026, about an hour before the statutory certification deadline, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins issued a certificate declaring the petition insufficient. His stated reason was that the Missouri Constitution does not permit a referendum on a congressional redistricting act. Proponent Richard von Glahn promptly sued; the Cole County Circuit Court upheld the certification.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed. Article III, section 49 reserves to the people the power to approve or reject by referendum “any act of the general assembly,” subject only to stated exceptions. HB 1 is a legislative act, and the Court held no constitutional exception removes congressional redistricting legislation from the referendum process.
The Court rejected the Secretary’s arguments that HB 1 was exempt as necessary for immediate preservation of public peace or as a law for maintenance of state institutions. HB 1 had no emergency clause, and it was not an appropriations measure. The Constitution expressly excludes certain commission-drawn state legislative redistricting plans from referendum, but contains no comparable exclusion for congressional districts enacted by the General Assembly.
The Court ordered the Secretary to certify the petition as sufficient and place it on the November 2026 ballot by September 8. Because a legal, sufficient, and timely referendum petition was filed before HB 1 took effect, the Court held HB 1 never became effective; the 2022 congressional map remains operative unless voters approve HB 1, after which it would take effect 30 days later.
Key Takeaways
- Missouri’s referendum power extends to congressional redistricting acts passed by the General Assembly.
- The Secretary’s certificate preserved only its stated constitutional ground for insufficiency; other arguments were waived.
- HB 1 cannot be implemented for the 2026 election unless voters approve it in the referendum.
Why It Matters
The decision restores the referendum to the November 2026 ballot and requires Missouri to use its 2022 congressional districts for that election. It also confirms that redistricting enacted by legislation remains subject to Missouri’s ordinary lawmaking constraints, including referendum, absent an express constitutional exemption.