US Court Orders Missouri to Use GOP-Drawn Map in November
The Facts
- A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Missouri must use its Republican-drawn 2025 congressional map in November, stating that the state's plan to use the 2022 map "violates the Constitution."
- The panel affirmed the district court and remanded for entry of a permanent injunction, but placed its ruling on hold until 5 p.m. CT on Sept. 28 to give map opponents time to seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS).
- The majority wrote that Missouri operated under the 2025 map for roughly a year, during which candidates filed, campaigned and voters cast primary ballots, adding that "any confusion stems from the last-minute decision by a state court to switch the congressional map."
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The Spin
Republican narrative
Voters already cast primary ballots under the 2025 Missouri map, and candidates campaigned on those exact lines. Taking the districts out from under more than 1.4 million people after the votes are counted would be a real assault on democracy, and the 8th Circuit was right to shut it down. Missourians deserve the same freedom to draw their districts that blue states take for granted.
Democratic narrative
SCOTUS has blocked this rigged map twice, but an appeals panel just steamrolled those orders at the eleventh hour. Ballots using the 2022 map are printed, military ballots went out and Missourians are already voting, so forcing a switch now is pure chaos. Erasing a Kansas City district to silence Black and Brown voters before a scheduled referendum wrecks confidence in elections.
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