Denny Hoskins

People Not Politicians sued after Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said he wouldn’t count signatures collected before Oct. 14.

While a federal court decision Monday gives Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins the chance to reject the referendum, backers of the plan aren’t expecting that move to hold up in state court.

Attorneys for People Not Politicians said in court Monday that a judge should rule against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ actions on the proposed congressional redistricting referendum.

The ballot measure also includes a ban on gender affirming health care for minors. Judges reissued the summary statement that voters will see on November 2026 ballots to make clear rights were being repealed, not newly established.

The group People Not Politicians is gathering signatures to prevent a new redistricting plan from going into effect.

The Republican National Committee is targeting voters to remove their names from a referendum petition.

Advocacy group People Not Politicians has until mid-December to collect more than 100,000 signatures across six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. The lawsuit may help decide whether 90,000 collected in September and early October are valid.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, said any signatures gathered before Wednesday to place a new congressional map up for a vote won’t count. Proponents of the redistricting referendum said that’s an unlawful attempt to shorten the signature-gathering window.

Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ proposed ballot language was “fair and sufficient,” though it does not explicitly state it would again ban most abortions.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins will have to rewrite the ballot summary for a proposed constitutional amendment a third time, because the judge ruled that it "fails to adequately alert voters" that the measure would ban abortion.