Appeals Court Reviews Trump-Endorsed Missouri District Map After Supreme Court Halt

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considered a request to revive a new Missouri congressional map that received backing from Donald Trump, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has barred its use in the November election. The dispute centers on whether the Republican-crafted districts, which were employed in the August primary, can replace the existing boundaries that will be used for the November vote.

The Supreme Court previously halted a lower-court order that would have enforced the new map, so the state continues to rely on the districts drawn for 2022 and 2024, as affirmed by both the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. Local election officials have already begun printing ballots and must meet a Friday deadline for mailing absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military voters, with state law requiring all other absentee ballots by the following Tuesday.

Changing districts at this stage would be “practically impossible” and could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a filing by the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities. Missouri’s redistricting saga is the longest and most complex among roughly a dozen states that have pursued mid-decade redistricting after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw lines for a strategic advantage in the midterms.