最新杏吧原创

That could lead to voters casting ballots for candidates in one district in the party primaries, but different candidates and districts in November.

Organizers of a citizen-led initiative to overturn new congressional boundaries designed to send more Republicans to Congress this fall told reporters Wednesday that Hoskins鈥� decision to wait until primary day to certify their ballot question could result in candidates being elected in an 鈥渋llegal election.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a primary for Congress that will not count because he runs it on the wrong map,鈥� said Jefferson City attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represents People Not Politicians in its bid to overturn last year鈥檚 redistricting effort. 鈥淚 think the secretary is intentionally trying to cause chaos.鈥�

The concerns were raised a day after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the Republican-leaning congressional map will聽remain in effect聽until signatures forcing a citizen vote on the matter are certified.

Hoskins, a Republican, is charged with certifying the signatures collected by People Not Politicians. The group turned in more than 300,000 sigantures last December to get a proposition calling on voters to reject the new congressional map on the November ballot.

Those signatures currently are being vetted by county clerks and local election authorities.

On Tuesday, Hoskins told reporters he would not ask election officials to move faster with signature verification. Those authorities have until July 27 to verify signatures.

Hoskins then has until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, to verify the signatures trying to put the gerrymandered map up for a vote 鈥� the same day as the primary.聽Like the opponents of the new map, Hoskins is arguing that departing from his timeline would cause chaos.

鈥淚f we went back to the old maps or to a different map other than the Missouri First map, we鈥檇 be in disarray,鈥� Hoskins said. 鈥淚t would be disarray for the people that would be going to town halls and listening to the candidates. It would be a disarray for the candidates that are running and going out meeting voters in the districts.鈥�

The upshot of either scenario is that voters could be choosing primary candidates in August for districts that will have different boundaries in November.

鈥淚t鈥檚 possible the Supreme Court could order a November election to be redone,鈥� Hatfield said.

At issue is a nationwide mid-decade gerrymandering frenzy launched by President Donald Trump last year in an attempt to carve out more safe Republican seats in Congress to secure an ongoing GOP majority in the midterm elections.

Legislative maps typically are redrawn based on census data after the start of each decade, but Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe jumped on the bandwagon, seeking to turn Missouri鈥檚 6-2 Republican leaning districts into a 7-1 GOP majority.

In a special session last September, Republican lawmakers rammed through new boundaries that divided Kansas City voters into three GOP-leaning districts and stretched Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver鈥檚 5^th congressional district across mid-Missouri, taking in cities and counties that typically have voted Republican in recent elections.

The new boundaries leave 最新杏吧原创鈥� 1st Congressional District as the lone Democratic stronghold among the state鈥檚 eight districts. The 3rd Congressional District, currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Onder of Lake Saint Louis, includes all of St. Charles County and the 2nd Congressional District, represented by Republican Ann Wagner of Ballwin, catches more voters in 最新杏吧原创鈥� south suburbs and extends into red rural counties southwest of the metro area.

The high court鈥檚 decision was criticized by one of the Democrats seeking to take on Wagner in November.

鈥淪plitting apart communities to manufacture political outcomes is an attack on democracy, plain and simple. But let me be crystal clear: this decision does not change our campaign one bit,鈥� said Fred Wellman, a Wildwood Democrat who is leading his primary opponents in fundraising.

National groups also weighed in on the Supreme Court ruling.

鈥淐ome November, voters will hold Republicans up and down the ballot accountable for setting in motion a cynical plan meant to silence Missourians,鈥� Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairwoman Suzan DelBene said.

Put Missouri First, a group funded with $3 million from the National Republican Committee, said the rulings 鈥渟hould finally put an end to months of manufactured confusion.鈥�

鈥淭he court confirmed exactly what we have said from the very beginning: the Missouri First map was lawfully enacted, remains fully in effect, and will govern the 2026 election cycle,鈥� the organization said in a statement issued Tuesday. 鈥淭he Missouri First map is the Law of the Land. It is time for the Left to stop the games, accept reality, and move on.鈥�

Hoskins, meanwhile, told reporters Tuesday that more changes to congressional boundaries could be considered next year, suggesting the creation of a congressional map favoring eight Republicans and no Democrats.

Missouri鈥檚 1st District, represented by Democrat Wesley Bell, is the only one in the state drawn to meet the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court weakened in a high-profile Louisiana lawsuit聽in April.

"We have racial gerrymandering right now in 最新杏吧原创 in Congressional District 1, " Hoskins said. "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is no more racial gerrymandering. The definition of racism is drawing districts based on the color of one鈥檚 skin. We don鈥檛 want that in this state.鈥�