Missouri’s Redistricting Plan Fails To Meet Common Cause’s Fairness Criteria
In Missouri, lawmakers passed a plan to redraw their maps mid-decade in an effort to give Trump and Republicans a stronger hand in the midterms. The plan, passed last month, splits Kansas City’s 5th Congressional District into multiple pieces, combining urban voters with distant rural areas to tilt outcomes.
Common Cause used its Mid-Decade Redistricting Fairness Criteria to evaluate Missouri’s plan. Here’s how it measures up:
1. Missouri’s redistricting plan is NOT a proportionate response to other states.
Missouri is engaging in a mid-decade redraw to help Trump and Republicans gain a disproportionate advantage in the midterm elections. That’s a power grab, not a targeted, proportional response.
2. Missouri’s redistricting process did NOT include meaningful public participation.
Missourians were effectively shut out of the process. In the House, 2,761 people testified against the plan and only 16 in favor, yet lawmakers passed it without a single amendment.
3. Missouri’s redistricting plan is NOT racially equitable.
The Missouri redistricting plan breaks apart communities of color in Kansas City, reducing their representation in Congress.
4. Missouri’s redistricting leaders have NOT supported federal reform.
Supporters of Missouri’s mid-decade redraw have not expressed support for federal legislation that would strengthen voting rights or stop partisan gerrymandering.
5. Missouri’s leaders have NOT endorsed independent redistricting
Supporters of Missouri’s redraw have not endorsed creating an independent commission at the state level, and have not supported national reforms requiring these commissions.
6. Missouri’s redistricting plan is NOT time-limited.
The Missouri redraw includes no expiration or safeguards. This sets a dangerous precedent for repeated mid-decade redraws whenever the majority party sees a political advantage.
