A state supreme court blocked Missouri's 2025 map, and plaintiffs are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.
Why it matters: The ruling decides which congressional map Missouri can use for the 2026 election calendar, including the ballots and absentee deadlines now approaching. It also tests how far state referendum rules can go in delaying a newly enacted federal map.
- The Missouri Supreme Court on Sept. 3 said a referendum petition on House Bill 1 was "legal, sufficient, and timely."
- The court said Missouri must keep using the 2022 congressional map for the Nov. 3, 2026 general election unless voters approve HB 1.
- On Sept. 9, attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay after a federal district court temporarily allowed the 2025 map to be used.
- Missouri must mail absentee ballots to overseas and military voters by Sept. 19.
Missouri's congressional map fight is now headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court after the state's top court and a federal judge came to opposite conclusions about whether the legislature's 2025 redistricting law can be used in the 2026 election.
In a Sept. 3 opinion, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously said the referendum petition targeting House Bill 1 was "legal, sufficient, and timely." The court said that means the state must keep using the 2022 congressional map for the Nov. 3, 2026 general election unless voters approve HB 1. Read the Missouri Supreme Court opinion
The sequence matters: the legislature adopted the 2025 map, opponents filed a referendum petition in December 2025, and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins later rejected that petition. The state court said the referendum challenge was valid. AP reported on the procedural history
That set up a conflict with a federal district court, which temporarily allowed use of the new map. Plaintiffs then filed an emergency stay application at the Supreme Court on Sept. 9, arguing the election timetable leaves no room for delay and that Missouri must mail absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military voters by Sept. 19. Read the emergency stay filing
The practical question for the justices is which map controls as election deadlines arrive: the 2022 map, which the state court kept in place, or the 2025 map, which the federal court briefly let stand.
By the numbers
- Sept. 3 - Missouri Supreme Court decision date.
- Sept. 19 - deadline to mail absentee ballots to overseas and military voters.
- 8 - Missouri's U.S. House seats.
Yes, but: The Supreme Court filing asks for emergency relief, but it is not yet clear how quickly the justices will act or whether they will change the map before ballots go out.
What's next: The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to grant an emergency stay before Missouri's Sept. 19 absentee-ballot mailing deadline.