(This article comes courtesy of MissouriNet, through writer Marshall Griffin.)
A Western Missouri State Appeals Court panel has rewritten the summary for a ballot measure asking voters to decide Missouri’s new congressional district boundaries.
Before Thursday’s ruling, the proposal asked Missouri voters if they approved of House Bill 1, which repeals the “existing gerrymandered” plan that “protects incumbent politicians” and replaces it with a plan that keeps more cities and counties intact.
Do the people of the state of Missouri approve the act of the General Assembly entitled “House Bill No. 1 (2025 Second Extraordinary Session),” which repeals Missouri’s existing gerrymandered congressional plan that protects incumbent politicians, and replaces it with new congressional boundaries that keep more cities and counties intact, are more compact, and better reflects statewide voting patterns?
The judges removed the phrases “existing gerrymandered” and “protects incumbent politicians” and now reads:
Do the people of the state of Missouri approve the act of the General Assembly entitled “House Bill No. 1 (2025 Second Extraordinary Session),” which repeals Missouri’s congressional plan, and replaces it with new congressional boundaries that keep more cities and counties intact, and are more compact?
The group People Not Politicians is sponsoring the question that will be on the election ballot for voters to decide. It opposes the new congressional district boundaries, which the group says is designed to give Republicans a seventh seat in Congress.
It remains to be seen whether Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, will appeal the new language to the State Supreme Court.
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