Vote YES on Proposition A
Approve the Missouri First Map
Missourians Deserve a Map That Matches How They Voted: Yes on Proposition A
Missourians deserve a congressional map that reflects how Missourians actually vote. In 2024, President Trump carried 111 of the state’s 115 counties and the independent city of St. Louis, and he won the statewide vote by roughly eighteen points. That is not a close or contested picture of the electorate. It is a durable Republican majority spread across almost the entire map. A delegation that locks in two safe Democratic seats while the rest of the state votes the other way does not match that result. Proposition A asks voters whether to uphold the map the General Assembly passed in 2025, drawn by the representatives Missourians elected to do that work and signed by the governor. A yes vote keeps a plan supporters say holds more counties together and gives the state’s congressional delegation a partisan balance closer to the way the state votes.
The Missouri Constitution assigns congressional districting to the legislature, not to outside campaigns. The referendum behind Proposition A was driven by organized interests, including national groups, that gathered signatures to suspend a map their elected representatives had already enacted and to put that judgment back on the ballot. That is an attempt to override the constitutional duty of the General Assembly to draw the lines. Missourians can settle the question themselves on November 3. A yes vote affirms the map their representatives passed. A no vote leaves the older lines in place. The choice is whether the districts that send Missouri to Congress should follow the vote the state has already cast.
What is Proposition A?
Proposition A asks voters whether House Bill 1 and the Missouri First Map should take effect
A YES vote approves House Bill 1 – allowing the Missouri First Map would take effect 30 days after the election and allow Republicans to compete in seven of eight congressional districts in future elections.
A NO vote rejects House Bill 1 and keeps the 2022 map in place, protecting Democrat incumbents in Kansas City and St. Louis.
Under the Missouri Supreme Court’s order, Proposition A will not change the congressional districts used on November 3; that court requires the 2022 map unless voters later approve the 2025 map. The Eighth Circuit has since held that using the 2022 map in the general election after the 2025 map was used in the August primary would violate the U.S. Constitution and ordered use of the 2025 map, but that injunction is stayed until September 28 pending possible U.S. Supreme Court review, so the 2022 map remains in effect for now. The official fiscal summary estimates no costs or savings for state or local governments.
Why is the Referendum Necessary?
The Missouri Supreme Court ordered the referendum on the ballot on September 3 and ruled that House Bill 1 never took effect. The Court directed the state to use the 2022 congressional districts for the November 3 election.
If voters approve Prop. A, the Missouri First Map will take effect 30 days after the election and govern future congressional elections.
Why is the Referendum Necessary?
Referendum 2026-R004 (Proposition A) remains on the November 3 ballot under the Missouri Supreme Court’s September 3 order that the 2025 map never took effect and that the 2022 districts must be used unless voters approve the new map. On September 21, the 8th U.S. Circuit held that switching to the 2022 map after the August primary used the 2025 map would violate Article I, Section 2, directed a permanent injunction requiring the 2025 map, and stayed that order until 5 p.m. CT on September 28 for U.S. Supreme Court review; Judge Clark entered the stayed injunction the same day.
The 8th Circuit on September 22 denied a further stay, People Not Politicians sought emergency Supreme Court relief that night, and Attorney General Hanaway said Missouri is still using the 2022 maps, under which overseas ballots have already been mailed and absentee voting began September 22. If the Supreme Court does not intervene by September 28, officials must implement the 2025 map for November.
Who is Trying to Defeat the Missouri Map?
People Not Politicians is the liberal PAC behind the referendum campaign.
The group is asking Missourians to vote NO on Proposition A. A NO vote would keep the 2022 map and preserve the Kansas City-based 5th District as a heavily Democratic seat.