Missouri redistricting initiative facing court challenge

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republican-aligned attorneys urged a judge Friday to block people from voting on a Missouri ballot measure that could upend political power at the Capitol by requiring state legislative districts to be drawn to achieve "partisan fairness" and "competitiveness."

The lawyers argued the so-called Clean Missouri initiative, which also would bar lawmakers from accepting lobbyist gifts worth more than $5, violates the state constitution by addressing multiple subjects.

Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green said he would rule soon after a Tuesday deadline for attorneys to submit suggested judgments. Regardless of how he rules, the case is likely to be appealed.

Republicans currently hold commanding majorities in the Missouri House and Senate, with Democrats primarily relegated to representing residents in the state's largest cities.

The ballot initiative could put a dent in that by forcing legislative districts to be drawn to reflect the parties' share of the statewide vote in previous elections for president, governor and U.S. senator, where Democrats typically run closer to Republicans. Criteria such as compact and contiguous districts that keep communities together would carry a lower priority.

Attorney Eddie Greim, representing a Republican voter who sued, said the initiative wraps "a fundamental change to our democracy" with popular causes such as lobbyist gift limits and could result in residents getting "hoodwinked into voting for something that the majority didn't really want."

Redistricting has been a hot topic across the country. National Republican and Democratic groups are pouring millions into legislative and gubernatorial races to try to better position themselves for the next round of redistricting following the 2020 Census.

Initiatives revamping the process also are on the ballot this November in Colorado, Michigan and Utah. And lawsuits challenging the current districts are pending in about a dozen states, including in North Carolina, where a federal judicial panel is weighing whether to order new districts before the fall elections.

Although some Republicans support it, the campaign for the Missouri initiative is run by a Democratic consultant and has received big checks from groups that typically back Democrats, including unions and an entity linked to the philanthropic network of liberal billionaire George Soros.

The initiative faces two similar lawsuits -- one brought on behalf a GOP voter by the law firm of Missouri Republican Party chairman Todd Graves and the other by the president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose political arm frequently endorses Republicans.

Among other things, the lawsuits claim the initiative addresses multiple subjects by granting the state auditor, an executive branch official, a role in selecting a state demographer who would draw proposed districts.

Those proposed maps still would be subject to approval by existing bipartisan commissions whose members are appointed by the governor from nominees submitted by the Democratic and Republican parties.

Lawyers for the initiative's sponsors and GOP Attorney General Josh Hawley, whose office is legally responsible for defending ballot measures, said its various provisions all have a single focus on the Legislature.

The plaintiffs' attorneys also claimed a variety of other constitutional flaws a lawyer for Clean Missouri said didn't rise to the level of denying people the right to vote on an initiative that garnered several hundred thousand petition signatures.

To strike it down, "it has to be a big deal -- not bumping the rails, but off the rails," said Clean Missouri attorney Chuck Hatfield. "Unless it's off the rails, it goes to the ballot and everybody can spend their money and campaign on this."

In addition to the sections on redistricting and lobbyist gifts, the initiative also would slightly lower Missouri's campaign contribution limits for legislative candidates, bar them from raising political money on state property, alter the waiting period for ex-lawmakers to become lobbyists and make lawmakers subject to the state open-records law.

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