JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri congressional map dispute appears headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court for a third time in three weeks, as some federal judges continue to press for a newer map favored by former President Donald Trump to be used in November. The Missouri congressional map at issue has already created uncertainty for more than a million voters about which candidates will appear on their ballots.
The U.S. Supreme Court has so far declined to allow the newer districts, letting stand a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that ordered the state to use the same U.S. House boundaries employed in the 2024 and 2022 elections.
A third decision from the nation’s high court could settle the matter and end the back-and-forth that has moved voters between districts and sown confusion ahead of November.
Missouri congressional map at center of state court ruling
On Sept. 3, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts passed by the Republican-led Legislature a year ago cannot take effect unless voters first approve them. Those districts, backed by Trump, were intended to help the GOP secure another U.S. House seat in the midterms.
The court relied on the state constitution’s referendum process, which allows citizens to petition for a statewide vote on acts of the Legislature. Under that provision, any referred measure takes effect only if voters approve it.
Opponents of the new lines submitted thousands of referendum petition signatures in December. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until the Aug. 4 deadline — the same day Missouri held primaries under the new districts — to reject the petition, asserting that congressional redistricting cannot be subject to referendum.
The Missouri Supreme Court said Hoskins was wrong, holding that the referendum filing kept the new map from taking effect retroactive to December. That means the August primary was conducted under districts that were not in force. The court said the November election must use the only districts still in state law, the map adopted in 2022 after the latest census.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees emergency matters from Missouri, allowed that ruling to stand on Sept. 8.
Federal appeals court pushes to keep primary map
On Monday, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Constitution prohibits changing congressional districts between a primary and a general election.
The Constitution does not say that explicitly. The panel pointed to the requirement that House members be elected every two years by each state’s voters, cited precedent treating primaries as an integral part of a state’s election system, and emphasized that more than a million potential voters — roughly one in four statewide — would be shifted between the new and old districts. Those voters did not help choose the nominees who would appear on their general election ballots.
The judges concluded that such a switch would deny those voters their constitutional right to choose representatives. The panel instructed U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark to bar Missouri from using anything other than the districts used in the August primary. Clark quickly issued the order.
Clark had issued a similar temporary order on Sept. 8, which the U.S. Supreme Court paused two days later. Opponents of the newer map plan to ask the high court to block the latest order as well.
Purcell principle fuels both sides in Missouri congressional map fight
Both supporters and opponents of the newer districts have invoked the U.S. Supreme Court’s Purcell principle, a 2006 doctrine cautioning courts against changing election rules close to an election.
Because of recent decisions by the U.S. and Missouri Supreme Courts, absentee voting has already begun using the 2022 districts. Opponents of the newer map argue it is too late to switch back.
Supporters of the newer lines also cite Purcell, contending it is too late to move away from the districts used in the August primary. The appeals panel agreed, saying that using the 2025 map would minimize voter confusion.
The dispute comes as another election involving Trump’s influence on congressional races plays out elsewhere in the country.
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