Missouri’s protracted legal fight over congressional redistricting took a new turn Monday when a federal appeals court ruled in favor of new districts backed by Donald Trump, even as the US Supreme Court has barred those districts from the November election.
A three-judge panel of the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Missouri should employ the Republican-drawn US House districts in November, mirroring the state’s August primary. The judges concluded that returning to prior districts for the general election would violate the US Constitution.
The decision has no immediate effect because the federal appellate panel stayed its order for one week to allow time for appeal. The US Supreme Court has twice sided against the Trump-backed map and blocked enforcement of a lower court ruling favoring the map pending a potential appeal and eventual high court ruling.
Missouri remains set to use the same congressional districts in November that it used in 2024 and 2022, following prior rulings by both the Missouri Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court.
Local election officials have already sent absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military voters using those districts, and state law requires absentee ballots to be available to all other voters by Tuesday.
