Missouri's Attorney General is defending Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' decision to keep a congressional redistricting proposal off the primary election ballot.
Hoskins ruled on Election Day that the initiative petition was unconstitutional, citing a legal opinion from Attorney General Catherine Hanaway.
“That power's never been delegated to the people. I think there's some good practical reasons for that, like how do voters go about drawing actual new maps because the population does shift around Missouri," Hanaway says.
Hanaway's office backed Hoskins' decision to reject the initiative petition. Hanaway says there was a specific reason her office entered the dispute.
“On every initiative petition, we have the obligation under the law to review it for its legal sufficiency," Hanaway explains. "We found it to be insufficient under the Missouri Constitution.”
Hanaway says her office previously filed a federal lawsuit challenging the effort.
“And the federal court said, look, this issue isn't ripe for consideration yet because the signatures have not been turned in yet," Hanaway says. "But now that this issue is ripe, we certainly haven't changed our opinion.”
People Not Politicians attorney Chuck Hatfield disagrees, arguing the Missouri Constitution gives voters the power to propose changes through the initiative petition process.
The Cole County court is required to give election-related cases priority. The group filed suit Tuesday in Cole County Circuit Court. Both Hatfield and Hanaway say they expect a hearing to begin soon because state law requires courts to give election-related cases priority.
Missourinet