The Supreme Court on Friday turned away an attempt to use a new Missouri congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, putting an end to a long-running legal dispute as absentee voting is underway in the midterm elections.
asserted
voting → turn → elections
The justices halted a federal appeals court ruling that would have revived the Republican-friendly map for the November elections, which will determine control of Congress.
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which → halt → Congress
The Supreme Court instead let stand a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled earlier this month that a citizen petition prevents the new map from being used unless first approved by voters in a November referendum.
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petition → let → referendum
The decision means Missouri residents will vote under the same congressional districts used in the 2024 and 2022 elections.
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residents → mean → elections
“At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos,” the high court wrote in an unsigned opinion.
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court → order → opinion
“The District Court and Court of Appeals should not enjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the 2022 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.”
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Court → enjoin → Missouri
Republicans had hoped the new House map — which already was used in the August primaries — could help them win an additional seat as part of a nationwide redistricting battle pushed by Trump to gain an edge in the midterms.
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them → hop → midterms
The new map had targeted a district held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
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map → target → Cleaver
“I think my reelection prospects shot up significantly,” a jubilant Cleaver said after the Supreme Court ruling.
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Cleaver → think → ruling
A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled Monday that switching districts between the primary and general elections would violate the U.S. Constitution.
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switching → rule → Constitution
The panel directed a district judge to bar Missouri from using anything other than the new map but delayed the order’s effect until next Monday to allow time for an appeal to the Supreme Court.
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panel → direct → Court
The legal wrangling has caused confusion for more than a million potential Missouri voters — nearly 1 in 4 statewide — who were shifted from one district to another, resulting in different candidates on their ballots.
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who → cause → ballots
Absentee voting began Tuesday under the 2022 congressional districts.
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voting → begin → districts
Thousands of ballots already had been mailed, and some already have been cast.
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some → mail → ballots
A decision from the Supreme Court is “a big sigh of relief,” said Kansas City election director Shawn Kieffer.
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Kieffer → say → relief
He added, “We just want it over, so we can do our job properly.”
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we → add → job
Republican redistricting focused on Kansas City
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redistricting → focus → City
Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight House districts.
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Republicans → hold → districts
At the urging of Trump and Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, Missouri lawmakers last September passed revised districts that were intended to help them win seven seats in the midterms.
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them → pass → midterms
The redistricting significantly reshaped a Kansas City-based district held by Cleaver.
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redistricting → reshape → Cleaver
It shed parts of Kansas City to neighboring districts with Republican incumbents and stretched the remainder of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District far eastward into rural Republican areas.
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It → shed → areas
The result was about 59% of potential voters were new to the district, according to an Associated Press estimate.
uncertain
% → accord → estimate
The ripple effects also shifted some voters in most of Missouri’s other congressional districts.
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effects → shift → districts
Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin won a six-way Republican primary under the revised districts.
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Brattin → win → districts
They remain the candidates for the general election, even though the district boundaries have reverted to their prior lines.
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boundaries → remain → lines
Cleaver said the court ruling affirms the people’s right to use to referendum petitions against state legislative actions they don’t like.
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they → say → actions
“We just received a healthy dose of encouragement that the voice of people in the United States still matters,” he said.
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he → receive → States
Brattin was a plaintiff, along with Republican Rep. Bob Onder and two other voters, in a federal lawsuit that led to the 8th Circuit’s ruling and the last two appeals to the Supreme Court.
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that → lead → Court
He had no immediate comment.
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He → have → comment
Missouri’s redistricting prompted a big legal fight
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redistricting → prompt → fight
At least 16 lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts related to Missouri’s congressional redistricting. The battle has been the longest and most complex among roughly a dozen states that sought to change their U.S. House districts over the past year.
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that → file → year
Missouri’s new map survived most of the lawsuits, including ones contending that mid-decade redistricting violated the state constitution and that the new districts ran afoul of requirements to be compact.
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districts → survive → requirements
In one case, the Missouri Supreme Court allowed the new districts to be used while election officials worked to verify petition signatures seeking to put the map to a statewide vote.
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officials → allow → vote
Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until the legal deadline on Aug. 4 — the day the new districts were used in the primaries — to reject the petition.
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districts → wait → petition
He asserted referendum petitions aren’t allowed for congressional redistricting.
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petitions → assert → redistricting
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 that the referendum petition was valid.
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petition → rule → ?
It ordered Hoskins not to use the new map and to instead use the districts adopted in 2022, after the last census.
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It → order → census
The U.S. Supreme Court let that ruling stand on Sept. 8.
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ruling → let → Sept.
But minutes later, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a conflicting order in favor of the new map.
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Clark → issue → map
The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 10 blocked Clark’s order from taking effect.
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Court → block → effect
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
