Thousands of Missourians flooded the state’s capitol building on September 10th to protest Republican efforts to redraw voting maps in the state, to help them wrest Congressional District 5 which is currently held by a Democrat into a permanent majority for the GOP in the state. This is a blatant attack on Black voting power and attacking a Black Congressman’s long-time seat.
The action was organized by People’s Action’s member group Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action, along with the Missouri Worker Center and major representation by local union members, including the AFL, SEIU, UAW and LiUNA.
The gerrymandered maps were created by local Republican lawmakers, who hold a supermajority in the state legislature, in response to a demand from President Trump to redraw voting maps in conservative states, including Texas, Kansas, Ohio and Indiana, to secure a permanent Republican majority in the U.S. Congress.
While the outpouring of objections to the gerrymandered maps was undeniable, and one of the largest protests ever seen at Missouri’s State Capitol, it did not stop the state’s Republican Governor, Mike Kehoe, from signing the new districts into law on September 28.
However, the new maps face several lawsuits, and MOJwJVA is partnering with People Not Politicians in an effort to prevent the maps from taking effect through a “citizen veto referendum,” which would prevent the new districts from taking effect until voters have the final say at the ballot box.
In order to get the veto referendum on the ballot, MOJwJVA and its allies must collect 100,000 signatures by December. Last June, they collected more than 200,000 signatures to get a minimum wage increase and sick leave for workers on the ballot that November. Both measures were passed by voters with wide margins, although Republican lawmakers have since rolled them back via the legislative process.“We are already hitting the ground running a citizen’s veto of the maps and a plan to stop the attacks on the initiative petition process at the ballot box later in 2026,” said Caitlyn Adams from MOJwJ Voter Action. “The bases of organized community leaders who are most grounded in their own fights with their own stakes are the ones showing up at scale with commitment to protect representation and direct democracy.”