Democrats lose challenge to Missouri’s mid-decade GOP redistricting
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A Missouri Supreme Court ruling sided with the Republican-controlled legislature, upholding the state’s mid-decade congressional redistricting and rejecting a challenge by four Missouri voters. The court majority held that the Missouri Constitution does not prevent redistricting from occurring more than once per decade,stating that “when” does not mean “only when.” The decision, written by justices appointed by Republican governors, increases the likelihood that Republicans will gain another House seat this year.
A dissenting opinion, joined by one additional Republican-appointed judge and two Democratic-appointed judges, argued that the Constitution’s timing and method for drawing districts should limit such action to the decade, reflecting a stronger interpretation that “when” and “how” are confined to the once-per-decade framework.
The ruling is a significant setback for missouri Democrats,who had sought to put the map on the November ballot for a referendum.Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins must decide by late July whether the map will appear on the ballot; petition supporters said they met the required signatures.
Democrats lose challenge to Missouri’s mid-decade redistricting pushed by GOP
The Missouri Supreme Court dealt Democrats a blow Tuesday when it ruled in favor of the state’s Republican-controlled legislature’s effort to redraw the congressional map last year.
In their appeal to the court, four Missouri voters challenged the state’s enactment of mid-decade redistricting. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed the state’s new map into law in September, making it more likely for Republicans to grab another House seat this year.
The state’s highest court rejected the voters’ legal challenge, determining that the legislature is not restricted from pursuing redistricting in the middle of the decade.
“The obligation to legislate congressional districts once a decade does not limit the General Assembly’s power to redistrict more frequently than once a decade,” Judge Zel Fischer wrote in the majority opinion. “Simply put, ‘when’ does not mean ‘only when.’”
The appellants who brought the challenge cited a clause in the Missouri Constitution as the basis for their argument against redistricting. The court said the appellants were “incorrect.”
Four judges appointed by Republican governors composed the majority opinion, while the fifth Republican-appointed judge sided with the two Democratic-appointed judges in dissent.
“The plain language of Article III, Section 45 unmistakably states ‘when’ and ‘how’ the General Assembly may — indeed, must — draw new congressional districts,” Judge Paul Wilson wrote in the dissenting opinion. “When the Constitution instructs the General Assembly ‘when’ and ‘how’ a power is to be exercised, there is a ‘strong presumption that it was designed to be exercised in that time and mode only.’ This should end the analysis.”
On social media, Kehoe and Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway celebrated the court’s ruling.
“The Missouri Supreme Court has reinforced what we’ve known all along — the Missouri FIRST Map and mid-decade redistricting are constitutional,” Hanaway wrote.
The decision represents a significant loss for Missouri Democrats, who are trying to bring the state’s redrawn congressional map before voters in a ballot referendum in November.
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) has until late July to decide whether the map will be on the ballot. People Not Politicians, the group pushing for the referendum, said on Monday that Hoskins’s office validated the number of petition signatures necessary for a referendum.
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