Judge blocks referendum on gerrymandered Missouri redistricting plan • Missouri Independent
Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled quickly in the case that will ultimately be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians speaks to reporters Wednesday after the Cole County trial over whether Missourians will have a referendum on redistricting on the November ballot (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).
The Missouri Constitution’s provisions allowing a referendum on “any act” of the Legislature do not extend that power to laws establishing congressional districts, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Wednesday afternoon.
Delivering his decision just a few hours after conducting a trial in the case, Green wrote that to allow a referendum on redistricting, the section establishing the referendum power isn’t the only section that applies.
“That provision at most merely raises, but does not answer, the question whether the referendum power extends to congressional redistricting, a domain (the Missouri Constitution)…