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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 121
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE MYERS.
5632H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing Sections 3 and 8 of
Article III of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting three new sections in lieu
thereof relating to the general assembly .
Be it r esolved by the House of Repr esentatives, the Senate concurring ther ein:
That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on T uesday next
2 following the first Monday in November , 2026, or at a special election to be called by the
3 governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for
4 adoption or rejection, the following amendment to Article III of the Constitution of the state
5 of Missouri:
Section A. Sections 3 and 8, Article III, Constitution of Missouri, are repealed and
2 three new sections adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as Sections 3, 8, and 54, to read as
3 follows:
Section 3. (a) The house of representatives shall consist of one hundred sixty-three
2 members elected at each general election and redistricted as provided in this section.
3 Beginning with the 2030 decennial census, the house of r epresent atives shall consist of
4 one hundr ed thr ee members.
5 (b) The house independent bipartisan citizens commission shall redistrict the house of
6 representatives using the following methods, listed in order of priority:
7 (1) Districts shall be as nearly equal as practicable in population, and shall be drawn
8 on the basis of one person, one vote. Districts are as nearly equal as practicable in population
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
9 if no district deviates by more than one percent from the ideal population of the district, as
10 measured by dividing the number of districts into the statewide population data being used,
11 except that a district may deviate by up to three percent if necessary to follow political
12 subdivision lines consistent with subdivision (4) of this subsection;
13 (2) Districts shall be established in a manner so as to comply with all requirements of
14 the United States Constitution and applicable federal laws, including, but not limited to, the
15 V oting Rights Act of 1965 (as amended). The following principles shall take precedence over
16 any other part of this constitution: no district shall be drawn in a manner which results in a
17 denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race
18 or color; and no district shall be drawn such that members of any community of citizens
19 protected by the preceding clause have less opportunity than other members of the electorate
20 to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice;
21 (3) Subject to the requirements of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, districts
22 shall be composed of contiguous territory as compact as may be. Areas which meet only at
23 the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. In general, compact districts are those
24 which are square, rectangular , or hexagonal in shape to the extent permitted by natural or
25 political boundaries;
26 (4) T o the extent consistent with subdivisions (1) to (3) of this subsection,
27 communities shall be preserved. Districts shall satisfy this requirement if district lines follow
28 political subdivision lines to the extent possible, using the following criteria, in order of
29 priority . First, each county shall wholly contain as many districts as its population allows.
30 Second, if a county wholly contains one or more districts, the remaining population shall be
31 wholly joined in a single district made up of population from outside the county . If a county
32 does not wholly contain a district, then no more than two segments of a county shall be
33 combined with an adjoining county . Third, split counties and county segments, defined as
34 any part of the county that is in a district not wholly within that county , shall each be as few as
35 possible. Fourth, as few municipal lines shall be crossed as possible;
36 (5) Districts shall be drawn in a manner that achieves both partisan fairness and,
37 secondarily , competitiveness, but the standards established by subdivisions (1) to (4) of this
38 subsection shall take precedence over partisan fairness and competitiveness. "Partisan
39 fairness" means that parties shall be able to translate their popular support into legislative
40 representation with approximately equal ef ficiency . "Competitiveness" means that parties'
41 legislative representation shall be substantially and similarly responsive to shifts in the
42 electorate's preferences.
43 T o this end, the average electoral performance of the two political parties receiving the
44 most votes in the three preceding general elections for governor , for United States Senate, and
45 for President of the United States shall be calculated. This index shall be defined as the total
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46 votes received by each party in the three preceding general elections for governor , for United
47 States Senate, and for President of the United States, divided by the total votes cast for both
48 parties in these elections. Using this index, the total number of wasted votes for each party ,
49 summing across all of the districts in the plan shall be calculated. "W asted votes" are votes
50 cast for a losing candidate or for a winning candidate in excess of the threshold needed for
51 victory . In any redistricting plan and map of the proposed districts, the dif ference between the
52 two parties' total wasted votes, divided by the total votes cast for the two parties, shall not
53 exceed fifteen percent.
54 T o promote competitiveness, the electoral performance index shall be used to simulate
55 elections in which the hypothetical statewide vote shifts by one percent, two percent, three
56 percent, four percent, and five percent in favor of each party . The vote in each individual
57 district shall be assumed to shift by the same amount as the statewide vote. In each of these
58 simulated elections, the dif ference between the two parties' total wasted votes, divided by the
59 total votes cast for the two parties, shall not exceed fifteen percent.
60 (c) W ithin sixty days after the population of this state is reported to the President for
61 each decennial census of the United States or , in the event that a redistricting plan has been
62 invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction, within sixty days that such a ruling has been
63 made, the state committee and the congressional district committees of each of the two
64 political parties casting the highest vote for governor at the last preceding general election
65 shall meet and the members of each committee shall nominate, by a majority vote of the
66 elected members of the committee present, provided that a majority of the elected members is
67 present, members of their party , residents in that district, in the case of a congressional district
68 committee, as nominees for the house independent bipartisan citizens commission. No party
69 shall select more than one nominee from any one state legislative district. The congressional
70 district committees shall each submit to the governor their list of two elected nominees. The
71 state committees shall each submit to the governor their list of five elected nominees. W ithin
72 thirty days thereafter , the governor shall appoint a house independent bipartisan citizens
73 commission consisting of one nominee from each list submitted by each congressional district
74 committee and two nominees from each list submitted by each state committee to redistrict
75 the state into one hundred and sixty-three representative districts and to establish the numbers
76 and boundaries of said districts. No person shall be appointed to both the house independent
77 bipartisan citizens commission and the senate independent bipartisan citizens commission
78 during the same redistricting cycle.
79 If any committee fails to submit a list within such time, the governor shall appoint a
80 member of his or her own choice from the political party of the committee failing to submit a
81 list, provided that in the case of a congressional district committee failing to submit a list, the
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82 person appointed to the commission by the governor shall reside in the congressional district
83 of such committee.
84 Members of the commission shall be disqualified from holding of fice as members of
85 the general assembly for four years following the date of the filing by the commission of its
86 final redistricting plan.
87 For the purposes of this Article, the term congressional district committee or
88 congressional district refers to the congressional district committee or the congressional
89 district from which a congressman was last elected, or , in the event members of congress
90 from this state have been elected at lar ge, the term congressional district committee refers to
91 those persons who last served as the congressional district committee for those districts from
92 which congressmen were last elected, and the term congressional district refers to those
93 districts from which congressmen were last elected. Any action pursuant to this section by
94 the congressional district committee shall take place only at duly called meetings, shall be
95 recorded in their of ficial minutes and only members present in person shall be permitted to
96 vote.
97 (d) The commissioners so selected shall, on the fifteenth day , excluding Sundays and
98 state holidays, after all members have been appointed, meet in the capitol building and
99 proceed to or ganize by electing from their number a chairman, vice chairman and secretary .
100 The commission shall adopt an agenda establishing at least three hearing dates on which
101 hearings open to the public shall be held to hear objections or testimony from interested
102 persons. A copy of the agenda shall be filed with the clerk of the house of representatives
103 within twenty-four hours after its adoption. Executive meetings may be scheduled and held
104 as often as the commission deems advisable.
105 (e) Not later than five months after the appointment of the commission, the
106 commission shall file with the secretary of state a tentative redistricting plan and map of the
107 proposed districts and during the ensuing fifteen days shall hold such public hearings as may
108 be necessary to hear objections or testimony of interested persons. The commission shall
109 make public the tentative redistricting plan and map of the proposed districts, as well as all
110 demographic and partisan data used in the creation of the plan and map.
111 (f) Not later than six months after the appointment of the commission, the
112 commission shall file with the secretary of state a final statement of the numbers and the
113 boundaries of the districts together with a map of the districts, and no statement shall be valid
114 unless approved by at least seven-tenths of the members.
115 (g) After the final statement is filed, members of the house of representatives shall be
116 elected according to such districts until a new redistricting plan is made as provided in this
117 section, except that if the final statement is not filed within six months of the time fixed for
118 the appointment of the commission, the commission shall stand dischar ged and the house of
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119 representatives shall be redistricted using the same methods and criteria as described in
120 subsection (b) of this section by a commission of six members appointed from among the
121 judges of the appellate courts of the state of Missouri by the state supreme court, a majority of
122 whom shall sign and file its redistricting plan and map with the secretary of state within
123 ninety days of the date of the dischar ge of the house independent bipartisan citizens
124 commission. The judicial commission shall make public the tentative redistricting plan and
125 map of the proposed districts, as well as all demographic and partisan data used in the
126 creation of the plan and map. Thereafter , members of the house of representatives shall be
127 elected according to such districts until a redistricting plan is made as provided in this section.
128 (h) Each member of the commission shall receive as compensation fifteen dollars a
129 day for each day the commission is in session but not more than one thousand dollars, and, in
130 addition, shall be reimbursed for his or her actual and necessary expenses incurred while
131 serving as a member of the commission.
132 (i) No redistricting plan shall be subject to the referendum.
133 (j) Any action expressly or implicitly alleging that a redistricting plan violates this
134 Constitution, federal law , or the United States Constitution shall be filed in the circuit court of
135 Cole County and shall name the body that approved the challenged redistricting plan as a
136 defendant. Only an eligible Missouri voter who sustains an individual injury by virtue of
137 residing in a district that exhibits the alleged violation, and whose injury is remedied by a
138 dif ferently drawn district, shall have standing. If the court renders a judgment in which it
139 finds that a completed redistricting plan exhibits the alleged violation, its judgment shall
140 adjust only those districts, and only those parts of district boundaries, necessary to bring the
141 map into compliance. The supreme court shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction upon the
142 filing of a notice of appeal within ten days after the judgment has become final.
Section 8. No one shall be elected to serve more than eight years total in any one
2 house of the General Assembly nor more than sixteen years total in both houses of the
3 General Assembly . In applying this section, service in the General Assembly resulting from
4 an election prior to December 3, 1992, or service of less than one year , in the case of a
5 member of the house of representatives, or two years, in the case of a member of the senate,
6 by a person elected after the effectiv e date of this section to complete the term of another
7 person, shall not be counted. Beginning January 1, 2032, no one shall be elected to serve
8 mor e than sixteen years total in both houses of the General Assembly .
Section 54. Beginning January 1, 2032, no member of the house of
2 r epresent atives shall serve as the speaker or speaker pr o tempor e of the house of
3 r epresent atives for mor e than thr ee consecutive terms and no member of the senate
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4 shall serve as the pr esident pr o tempor e of the senate for mor e than two consecutive
5 terms.
✔
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