In An Expensive And Partisan Missouri Redistricting Fight, Voters Get The Final Say

Missourians will experience some déjà vu on Nov. 3.

That's because the GOP-controlled state legislature placed a measure on the general election ballot known as Amendment 3 that seeks to undo a state-level redistricting system, widely known as Clean Missouri, that passed with more than 60% of the vote in 2018. The fight is attracting national attention and national money ahead of the 2021 redistricting cycle.

The Clean Missouri system, which risks being undone, seeks to inject more competitiveness into a state legislature that's swung dramatically toward Republicans in the last decade. But foes of Clean Missouri contend the redistricting system that a majority of voters backed isn't about fairness but about helping Democrats. They also say that the system will lead to strange-looking districts that piece together communities that have little commonality in an attempt to manufacture competitive elections.