A federal appeals court on Thursday considered whether to revive Missouri’s newly drawn congressional map, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has already blocked the districts from being used in the November midterm election.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over the Republican-drawn map, which Missouri used during its August primary before a series of state and federal court rulings threw the state’s congressional elections into uncertainty.
Missouri is currently preparing to conduct the Nov. 3 general election using the congressional districts adopted in 2022, the same boundaries used in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The dispute centers on a new map approved by Missouri lawmakers last year after President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The new Missouri boundaries substantially changed the Kansas City-area 5th Congressional District represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. Republicans hoped the changes could allow the party to win seven of Missouri’s eight congressional seats instead of the six it currently holds.
The state used the new districts during its August primary elections. But opponents of the map collected thousands of signatures seeking to place the redistricting plan before Missouri voters in a statewide referendum. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins initially rejected the referendum petition, arguing that congressional maps were not subject to the state’s referendum process. The Missouri Supreme Court disagreed.
The state’s highest court ruled earlier this month that the referendum effort could proceed and that the new congressional boundaries could not remain in effect while voters were deciding whether to uphold or reject them. The court directed election officials to revert to the 2022 map for the November election.
The situation became more complicated when a federal judge in St. Louis issued a conflicting order requiring Missouri to use the newly drawn districts. That judge concluded that switching maps between the primary and general election could violate federal rights.
The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently halted enforcement of the federal judge’s order, effectively requiring Missouri to use the older districts in November while the legal battle continues. Despite that Supreme Court action, the 8th Circuit proceeded with arguments Thursday over the underlying federal case.
Missouri Solicitor General Lou Capozzi argued that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures authority over congressional redistricting and that a referendum petition should not be able to suspend a map adopted by lawmakers.
The timing has become a major issue. Local election officials told the appeals court that ballots using the 2022 districts are already being printed and that Friday is the federal deadline for mailing absentee ballots to military personnel and U.S. citizens overseas. Missouri law also requires absentee ballots to become available to other voters next week.
Changing the map again at this stage would be “practically impossible” and could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a filing from the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities. The unusual sequence means more than 1 million Missouri voters — nearly one-quarter of the state’s potential electorate — are currently expected to vote in different congressional districts in November than they did during the August primary.
Attorneys supporting the new map argued Thursday that there is still time to return to the districts used in the primary. The appeals judges signaled that they understand the urgency of the case and said they expect to rule quickly.
