ST. LOUIS—Missouri voters will get the final say on two consequential amendments this November after the state’s highest court handed the secretary of state and partisan officials back-to-back unanimous defeats in a single day.
The national press prominently covered one of these decisions: On September 3, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution does not prohibit voters from overturning a new congressional map drawn by the legislature.
Their ruling means a referendum from People Not Politicians will be on the ballot.
In a separate decision, the court ordered election officials to put Amendment 6 on the ballot as well. The proposal is designed to make it harder for state lawmakers to interfere in the citizen initiative process.
The two cases are different. But they share a common thread: Partisan officials attempted to prevent voters from exercising powers reserved to them under Missouri law. And twice, the court said they couldn’t.
Voters Get the Final Say on Congressional Redistricting
In September 2025, the Republican-majority in the Missouri Legislature approved HB 1. The bill put in place a new congressional map that was meant to give the GOP one additional seat by carving up the Kansas City district held by US Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D).
People Not Politicians immediately responded and gathered signatures for a referendum that would put the question to voters on whether they approve or reject the new map. The group submitted over 300,000 signatures.
On August 4, primary election day and the deadline for ballot measure certification, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said it didn’t matter how many signatures the referendum got because voters could not do anything about legislative redistricting.
The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously disagreed.
The court concluded that the state constitution gives citizens referendum power over “any act of the general assembly,” and the redistricting bill was no exception. Because the referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, the court said HB 1 never legally took effect.
State officials have already petitioned the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to hear this case, arguing in part that it is too late to go back to the 2022 congressional map because it was already used in the August primary. They argue this will cause confusion.
However, unless SCOTUS intervenes, voters will decide if the new map remains in place for future elections through Proposition A.
Supreme Court of Missouri has ruled: Missourians will vote on politicians' rigged map! Vote No on Prop A on Nov 3. pic.twitter.com/66G7ClhhBK
— PeopleNotPoliticiansMO (@PeopleNotPolsMO) September 3, 2026
Then, the Court Put Amendment 6 Back on the Ballot
On the same day, the Missouri Supreme Court also rejected Hoskins’ attempt to prevent a proposed amendment that would make the state’s initiative and referendum process a fundamental right from appearing on the general election ballot.
Amendment 6 also prohibits lawmakers from weakening those powers and would require approval from at least 80% of both legislative chambers before lawmakers could amend or repeal laws enacted through the initiative process.
Or, enact laws similar to measures voters rejected by referendum.
Shawn Griffiths
Respect Missouri Voters gathered more than 367,000 petition signatures to qualify the amendment for the ballot, but Hoskins rejected it on the grounds that it violated the state’s single-subject rule.
While a lower court agreed that the proposal should stay off the ballot, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed that ruling in another unanimous opinion.
The justices not only rejected pre-election claims that the proposal violated Missouri’s single-subject requirements, but they also said the secretary of state lacked authority to revoke a ballot title that had already been certified.
Veterans for All Voters Founder Eric Bronner, who supports the amendment, was quoted by KCUR, saying:
“More than 367,000 Missourians signed petitions to put Amendment 6 before the voters. They followed the process, did the work, and earned a place on the ballot. Now the politicians are out of the way, and the decision belongs where it should have been all along — with Missouri voters.”
A Bigger Question About Who Holds the Power
The Missouri Supreme Court did not rule on whether either initiative was good policy. It simply protected the mechanisms that allow citizens to make choices on what they think is good policy—or isn’t.
In one case, voters used the referendum to challenge something lawmakers had already done. In the other, they used the initiative process to propose new limits on what lawmakers could do in the future.
Both efforts were nearly stopped by the state’s chief elections officer before Missourians had a chance to vote. Now, barring federal intervention in the redistricting fight, voters will get the last word on both amendments.