JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Opponents of Missouri’s new congressional map submitted thousands of petition signatures Tuesday calling for a statewide vote on a redistricting plan backed by President Donald Trump as part of his quest to hold on to a slim Republican majority in next year’s elections.

While a federal court decision Monday gives Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins the chance to reject the referendum, backers of the plan aren't expecting that move to hold up in state court.

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins says the state’s new congressional map will take effect, despite a referendum effort to repeal it.

The Missouri attorney general claims that the Republican-drawn congressional map is now active. But an anti-redistricting campaign argues that the law must be suspended while the state determines if enough valid signatures were submitted to force a statewide vote.

A Democratic-backed group collected nearly three times the required number of signatures for a ballot referendum, a major step in its campaign to repeal the map.

Polling both nationwide and in Missouri has consistently shown that voters overwhelmingly oppose gerrymandering. The new Missouri map splits Kansas City-area voters into three GOP-leaning districts in an effort to force out of office Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

The proposed agreement would hand the federal government new power over state election administration, alarming election officials and privacy advocates.