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Missouri Senate Bill SJR19

Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SJR19 Compare Versions

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22 EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
33 and is intended to be omitted in the law.
44 FIRST REGULAR SESSION
55 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19
66 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
77 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR FITZWATER.
88 0631S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
99 JOINT RESOLUTION
1010 Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing sections 3, 8, and 9 of
1111 article III of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting three new sections in lieu
1212 thereof relating to the general assembly.
1313
1414 Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
1515 That at the next general election to be held in the 1
1616 state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday 2
1717 in November, 2026, or at a special election to be called by 3
1818 the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to 4
1919 the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or 5
2020 rejection, the following amendment to article III of the 6
2121 Constitution of the state of Missouri:7
2222 Section A. Sections 3, 8, and 9, article III, Constitution 1
2323 of Missouri, are repealed and three new sections adopted in 2
2424 lieu thereof, to be known as sections 3, 8, and 9, to read as 3
2525 follows:4
2626 Section 3. (a) The house of representatives shall 1
2727 consist of one hundred [sixty-three] two members elected at 2
2828 each general election and redistricted as provided in this 3
2929 section. Each house district shall be wholly co ntained 4
3030 within a single senate district and three house districts 5
3131 shall be contained within each senate district created 6
3232 pursuant to section 7 of this article. 7 SJR 19 2
3333 (b) The house independent bipartisan citizens 8
3434 commission shall redistrict the house of representatives 9
3535 using the following methods, listed in order of priority: 10
3636 (1) Districts shall be as nearly equal as practicable 11
3737 in population, and shall be drawn on the basis of one 12
3838 person, one vote. Districts are as nearly equal as 13
3939 practicable in population if no district deviates by more 14
4040 than one percent from the ideal population of the district, 15
4141 as measured by dividing the number of districts into the 16
4242 statewide population data being used, except that a district 17
4343 may deviate by up to three percent if necessary to follow 18
4444 political subdivision lines consistent with subdivision (4) 19
4545 of this subsection; 20
4646 (2) Districts shall be established in a manner so as 21
4747 to comply with all requirements of the United States 22
4848 Constitution and applicable f ederal laws, including, but not 23
4949 limited to, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (as amended). The 24
5050 following principles shall take precedence over any other 25
5151 part of this constitution: no district shall be drawn in a 26
5252 manner which results in a denial or abrid gment of the right 27
5353 of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of 28
5454 race or color; and no district shall be drawn such that 29
5555 members of any community of citizens protected by the 30
5656 preceding clause have less opportunity than other members of 31
5757 the electorate to participate in the political process and 32
5858 to elect representatives of their choice; 33
5959 (3) Subject to the requirements of subdivisions (1) 34
6060 and (2) of this subsection, districts shall be composed of 35
6161 contiguous territory as compact as may be. Areas which meet 36
6262 only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. 37
6363 In general, compact districts are those which are square, 38 SJR 19 3
6464 rectangular, or hexagonal in shape to the extent permitted 39
6565 by natural or political boundaries; 40
6666 (4) To the extent consistent with subdivisions (1) to 41
6767 (3) of this subsection, communities shall be preserved. 42
6868 Districts shall satisfy this requirement if district lines 43
6969 follow political subdivision lines to the extent possible, 44
7070 using the following criteria, in order of priority. First, 45
7171 each county shall wholly contain as many districts as its 46
7272 population allows. Second, if a county wholly contains one 47
7373 or more districts, the remaining population shall be wholly 48
7474 joined in a single district made up of populat ion from 49
7575 outside the county. If a county does not wholly contain a 50
7676 district, then no more than two segments of a county shall 51
7777 be combined with an adjoining county. Third, split counties 52
7878 and county segments, defined as any part of the county that 53
7979 is in a district not wholly within that county, shall each 54
8080 be as few as possible. Fourth, as few municipal lines shall 55
8181 be crossed as possible; 56
8282 (5) Districts shall be drawn in a manner that achieves 57
8383 both partisan fairness and, secondarily, competitiv eness, 58
8484 but the standards established by subdivisions (1) to (4) of 59
8585 this subsection shall take precedence over partisan fairness 60
8686 and competitiveness. "Partisan fairness" means that parties 61
8787 shall be able to translate their popular support into 62
8888 legislative representation with approximately equal 63
8989 efficiency. "Competitiveness" means that parties' 64
9090 legislative representation shall be substantially and 65
9191 similarly responsive to shifts in the electorate's 66
9292 preferences. 67
9393 To this end, the average electoral performance of the 68
9494 two political parties receiving the most votes in the three 69
9595 preceding general elections for governor, for United States 70 SJR 19 4
9696 Senate, and for President of the United States shall be 71
9797 calculated. This index shall be defined as the total vo tes 72
9898 received by each party in the three preceding general 73
9999 elections for governor, for United States Senate, and for 74
100100 President of the United States, divided by the total votes 75
101101 cast for both parties in these elections. Using this index, 76
102102 the total number of wasted votes for each party, summing 77
103103 across all of the districts in the plan shall be 78
104104 calculated. "Wasted votes" are votes cast for a losing 79
105105 candidate or for a winning candidate in excess of the 80
106106 threshold needed for victory. In any redistricting plan and 81
107107 map of the proposed districts, the difference between the 82
108108 two parties' total wasted votes, divided by the total votes 83
109109 cast for the two parties, shall not exceed fifteen percent. 84
110110 To promote competitiveness, the electoral performance 85
111111 index shall be used to simulate elections in which the 86
112112 hypothetical statewide vote shifts by one percent, two 87
113113 percent, three percent, four percent, and five percent in 88
114114 favor of each party. The vote in each individual district 89
115115 shall be assumed to shift by t he same amount as the 90
116116 statewide vote. In each of these simulated elections, the 91
117117 difference between the two parties' total wasted votes, 92
118118 divided by the total votes cast for the two parties, shall 93
119119 not exceed fifteen percent. 94
120120 (c) Within sixty days after the population of this 95
121121 state is reported to the President for each decennial census 96
122122 of the United States or, in the event that a redistricting 97
123123 plan has been invalidated by a court of competent 98
124124 jurisdiction, within sixty days that such a ruling ha s been 99
125125 made, the state committee and the congressional district 100
126126 committees of each of the two political parties casting the 101
127127 highest vote for governor at the last preceding general 102 SJR 19 5
128128 election shall meet and the members of each committee shall 103
129129 nominate, by a majority vote of the elected members of the 104
130130 committee present, provided that a majority of the elected 105
131131 members is present, members of their party, residents in 106
132132 that district, in the case of a congressional district 107
133133 committee, as nominees for the ho use independent bipartisan 108
134134 citizens commission. No party shall select more than one 109
135135 nominee from any one state legislative district. The 110
136136 congressional district committees shall each submit to the 111
137137 governor their list of two elected nominees. The state 112
138138 committees shall each submit to the governor their list of 113
139139 five elected nominees. Within thirty days thereafter, the 114
140140 governor shall appoint a house independent bipartisan 115
141141 citizens commission consisting of one nominee from each list 116
142142 submitted by each congressional district committee and two 117
143143 nominees from each list submitted by each state committee to 118
144144 redistrict the state into one hundred and sixty -three 119
145145 representative districts and to establish the numbers and 120
146146 boundaries of said districts. No person shall be appointed 121
147147 to both the house independent bipartisan citizens commission 122
148148 and the senate independent bipartisan citizens commission 123
149149 during the same redistricting cycle. 124
150150 If any committee fails to submit a list within such 125
151151 time, the governor shall appoint a member of his or her own 126
152152 choice from the political party of the committee failing to 127
153153 submit a list, provided that in the case of a congressional 128
154154 district committee failing to submit a list, the person 129
155155 appointed to the commission by the governor shall reside in 130
156156 the congressional district of such committee. 131
157157 Members of the commission shall be disqualified from 132
158158 holding office as members of the general assembly for four 133 SJR 19 6
159159 years following the date of the filing by the commission of 134
160160 its final redistricting plan. 135
161161 For the purposes of this Article, the term 136
162162 congressional district committee or congressional district 137
163163 refers to the congressional district committee or the 138
164164 congressional district from which a congressman was last 139
165165 elected, or, in the event members of congress from this 140
166166 state have been elected at large, the term congressional 141
167167 district committee refers to those persons who last served 142
168168 as the congressional district committee for those districts 143
169169 from which congressmen w ere last elected, and the term 144
170170 congressional district refers to those districts from which 145
171171 congressmen were last elected. Any action pursuant to this 146
172172 section by the congressional district committee shall take 147
173173 place only at duly called meetings, shall be recorded in 148
174174 their official minutes and only members present in person 149
175175 shall be permitted to vote. 150
176176 (d) The commissioners so selected shall, on the 151
177177 fifteenth day, excluding Sundays and state holidays, after 152
178178 all members have been appointed, meet in the capitol 153
179179 building and proceed to organize by electing from their 154
180180 number a chairman, vice chairman and secretary. The 155
181181 commission shall adopt an agenda establishing at least three 156
182182 hearing dates on which hearings open to the public shall be 157
183183 held to hear objections or testimony from interested 158
184184 persons. A copy of the agenda shall be filed with the clerk 159
185185 of the house of representatives within twenty -four hours 160
186186 after its adoption. Executive meetings may be scheduled and 161
187187 held as often as the commi ssion deems advisable. 162
188188 (e) Not later than five months after the appointment 163
189189 of the commission, the commission shall file with the 164
190190 secretary of state a tentative redistricting plan and map of 165 SJR 19 7
191191 the proposed districts and during the ensuing fifteen da ys 166
192192 shall hold such public hearings as may be necessary to hear 167
193193 objections or testimony of interested persons. The 168
194194 commission shall make public the tentative redistricting 169
195195 plan and map of the proposed districts, as well as all 170
196196 demographic and partisan data used in the creation of the 171
197197 plan and map. 172
198198 (f) Not later than six months after the appointment of 173
199199 the commission, the commission shall file with the secretary 174
200200 of state a final statement of the numbers and the boundaries 175
201201 of the districts toge ther with a map of the districts, and 176
202202 no statement shall be valid unless approved by at least 177
203203 seven-tenths of the members. 178
204204 (g) After the final statement is filed, members of the 179
205205 house of representatives shall be elected according to such 180
206206 districts until a new redistricting plan is made as provided 181
207207 in this section, except that if the final statement is not 182
208208 filed within six months of the time fixed for the 183
209209 appointment of the commission, the commission shall stand 184
210210 discharged and the house of repr esentatives shall be 185
211211 redistricted using the same methods and criteria as 186
212212 described in subsection (b) of this section by a commission 187
213213 of six members appointed from among the judges of the 188
214214 appellate courts of the state of Missouri by the state 189
215215 supreme court, a majority of whom shall sign and file its 190
216216 redistricting plan and map with the secretary of state 191
217217 within ninety days of the date of the discharge of the house 192
218218 independent bipartisan citizens commission. The judicial 193
219219 commission shall make public the tentative redistricting 194
220220 plan and map of the proposed districts, as well as all 195
221221 demographic and partisan data used in the creation of the 196
222222 plan and map. Thereafter, members of the house of 197 SJR 19 8
223223 representatives shall be elected according to such districts 198
224224 until a redistricting plan is made as provided in this 199
225225 section. 200
226226 (h) Each member of the commission shall receive as 201
227227 compensation fifteen dollars a day for each day the 202
228228 commission is in session but not more than one thousand 203
229229 dollars, and, in addi tion, shall be reimbursed for his or 204
230230 her actual and necessary expenses incurred while serving as 205
231231 a member of the commission. 206
232232 (i) No redistricting plan shall be subject to the 207
233233 referendum. 208
234234 (j) Any action expressly or implicitly alleging that a 209
235235 redistricting plan violates this Constitution, federal law, 210
236236 or the United States Constitution shall be filed in the 211
237237 circuit court of Cole County and shall name the body that 212
238238 approved the challenged redistricting plan as a defendant. 213
239239 Only an eligible Missouri voter who sustains an individual 214
240240 injury by virtue of residing in a district that exhibits the 215
241241 alleged violation, and whose injury is remedied by a 216
242242 differently drawn district, shall have standing. If the 217
243243 court renders a judgment in which it f inds that a completed 218
244244 redistricting plan exhibits the alleged violation, its 219
245245 judgment shall adjust only those districts, and only those 220
246246 parts of district boundaries, necessary to bring the map 221
247247 into compliance. The supreme court shall have exclusive 222
248248 appellate jurisdiction upon the filing of a notice of appeal 223
249249 within ten days after the judgment has become final. 224
250250 Section 8. No one shall be elected to serve more than 1
251251 [eight years total in any one house of the General Assembly 2
252252 nor more than] sixteen years total in [both houses of] the 3
253253 General Assembly. In applying this section, service in the 4
254254 General Assembly resulting from an election prior to 5 SJR 19 9
255255 December 3, 1992, or service of less than one year, in the 6
256256 case of a member of the hou se of representatives, or two 7
257257 years, in the case of a member of the senate, by a person 8
258258 elected after the effective date of this section to complete 9
259259 the term of another person, shall not be counted. 10
260260 Section 9. [Until the convening of the Seventy-fourth 1
261261 General Assembly the House of Representatives shall consist 2
262262 of one hundred sixty -three members elected from the one 3
263263 hundred sixty-three representative districts, as they 4
264264 existed January 1, 1965. ] Until the convening of the one 5
265265 hundred seventh general assembly, the house of 6
266266 representatives shall consist of one hundred sixty -three 7
267267 members elected from one hundred sixty -three districts, as 8
268268 they existed on January 1, 2025. Beginning with the one 9
269269 hundred seventh general assembly, the house of 10
270270 representatives shall consist of one hundred two members 11
271271 elected from one hundred two districts, as such districts 12
272272 are created pursuant to this constitution. 13
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