Redistricting rulings injects chaos, uncertainty into Missouri House races

Missouri election officials and candidates are bracing for chaos in November amid concerns the state’s redistricting saga could spark widespread confusion for voters at the ballot box.

The Supreme Court paved the way for the state to use its old map that favored the GOP six seats to two, instead of the newer 7-1 House map that Republicans used in this year’s primaries. Pending litigation, however, could shift which map is used yet again.

Still, there’s plenty of confusion over which primary candidates will appear on the ballot — putting contenders in a holding pattern less than two months out from the election and leaving little time for the state to educate voters on what to expect at the polls.

“People in Missouri are angry,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), whose district Republicans sought to dismantle in the 7-1 map, told The Hill.

“I think all of us would be, including me, would be wise to realize that all of this chaos floating around the United States right now is not being embraced willingly or kindly by the public,” he said.

Counties and candidates are scrambling to make sense of last-minute changes to the state’s congressional primaries with almost 50 days until the election.

Missouri held its primaries last month using the 7-1 map Republicans passed last year that broke up Cleaver’s Kansas City-based district to give the GOP a pickup opportunity come November.

But the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that Missouri must use the 6-2 map, which was established in 2022, this fall even though candidates ran under different lines in the August primaries.

The lawmakers most affected by the redistricting changes include Reps. Ann Wagner (R) in the 2nd District, Bob Onder (R) in the 3rd District, Mark Alford (R) in the 4th District and Cleaver in the 5th District. The 6th District, left open by retiring Rep. Sam Graves (R), is also impacted.

Boone County, which is home to Columbia, is divided between the 3rd and 4th districts under the 2022 map. But under the new map, the county is split between the 3rd and 5th districts.

For now, officials are printing ballots under the assumption that the 6-2 map will be used in November based on guidance from Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’s (R) office, Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon told The Hill.

Overseas and military ballots must be sent out in the state by Sept. 19.

However, litigation filed by Republican candidates, including Onder and 5th District candidate Rick Brattin, over the use of the older maps is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday. The candidates’ lawsuit is likely to make its way back to the Supreme Court, and what happens next is an open question.

Onder told The Hill he assumes the candidates who won their primaries in August will be considered the general election contenders even though their congressional lines have changed.

Some election officials are also under the same impression.

“The [secretary of state] certified the winners of the primaries to us on September 8 as the candidates for those districts and so I am taking that at face-value,” Lennon told The Hill in an email.

“While the geographic area of the Congressional districts has changed, that hasn’t impacted the candidates from the perspective that the candidates for Congressional District 4 are still the candidates for Congressional District 4.”

The ordeal has frustrated lawmakers and candidates who spent time introducing themselves in communities that are no longer a part of their district. They are now racing to spend time in parts of their old district they assumed they’d no longer represent.

“I have my campaign team right now scrambling to find those events that … I thought I wasn’t going to go to because I was no longer running in that district,” Onder told The Hill.

The uncertainty over the House maps has also impacted election officials, who are now tasked with educating voters weeks out from November about which district they live in and who they can vote for. Lennon said the uncertainty has also caused some delays in getting ballots ready.

“The hardest thing has been trying to comply with all things at the same time, and in light of that, it’s mostly just putting us in a holding pattern,” Lennon told The Hill on Thursday amid ongoing litigation over the maps with the Supreme Court and Hoskins.

“While we can move forward with the other parts of the election administration process, like getting our election judges recruited and trained … and doing voter registration, the ballot printing is a pretty important part of the process, and having that delayed does impact our overall preparation,” she added.

Still, Lennon said the last-minute changes in Boone County are unlikely to be costly because the county programs and prints the majority of its ballots in-house. She noted, however, other counties that rely on vendors to print their ballots could see higher costs as a result.

Election officials told The Hill they remain optimistic that they’ll be able to administer their elections and educate voters in time.

Michael Whitehead, chair of the Jackson County Board of Election Commissioners, declined an interview request but told The Hill over email that “the legal wrangling in multiple courts has added some drama to our lives, but it has not distracted our staff from pressing forward with business as usual.”

Jackson County, which includes Kansas City, is split between the 4th, 5th and 6th districts under the 2022 map. Under the 7-2 map, the county was split between the 4th and 5th districts.

Still, voter confusion is all but certain given the flip-flop of the House maps, election officials and candidates told The Hill.

“When voters are confused … they’re less likely to vote,” Onder told The Hill, adding he worries it could ultimately dampen voter turnout.

Yet, many are hopeful that voters will be equipped with the necessary information come November.

“We can’t underestimate the power of the grassroots movements and the power of amplifying the positive messaging, amplifying information around what their rights and choices are for voters,” Tianna Mays, legal director for the Democracy Defenders Fund, which has been involved in redistricting lawsuits nationally, told The Hill.

“Where their goal is disruption and chaos and intimidation, our goal is information, making sure people are empowered and making sure people have access,” she added.