Organizers challenging Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map say they turned in enough signatures on Tuesday to block the map from going into effect and to force a referendum on the map next year.
People not Politicians, the main organization behind the effort, said they submitted more than 300,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office, nearly triple the number required to block the map from going into effect. Missouri’s Republican secretary of state now needs to review the signatures.
“The citizens of Missouri have spoken loudly and clearly: they deserve fair maps, not partisan manipulation,” Richard von Glahn, the executive director of People Not Politicians, said in statement. “We are submitting a record number of signatures to shut down any doubt that Missouri voters want a say.”
Missouri Republicans approved a new map in September that eliminates the Kansas City-based district of Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat, and replaces it with a Republican one. It’s part of a nationwide push by Donald Trump to redraw Republican-friendly congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when Republicans are expected to lose their razor-thin majority in Congress.