Missouri rejects citizens’ bid for vote on Trump-backed redistricting plan

Missouri’s top election official has rejected a citizens’ petition seeking a statewide referendum on the state’s redistricting plan backed by Donald Trump.

Supporters of the referendum had submitted hundreds of thousands of petition signatures in an effort to force a November election on whether to use a new US House map approved by the Republican-led state legislature.

But the Republican secretary of state, Denny Hoskins, asserted on Tuesday that the petition was void because congressional redistricting plans cannot be subject to voter referendums.

The number of petition signatures submitted did not matter, Hoskins said, because “challenging a congressional map is unconstitutional under Missouri law”.

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