Katherine Ostler votes while her 8-year-old son, Henry, looks on in November 2024 in Salt Lake City. Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, battles are already underway across the country over state ballot measure campaigns. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

When Missouri Republican lawmakers approved a new district map in September to help their party in Congress, progressive activist Richard von Glahn was ready. Hours after the state legislature passed the gerrymandered map, von Glahn had submitted a proposed ballot petition to put it to the voters.

It would be more than a month before the Republican-controlled secretary of state’s office approved the petition, squeezing the number of days in which Glahn’s group, People Not Politicians, has to gather signatures.

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