Supreme Court agrees to review Missouri redistricting map for third time with voting already started

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed late Tuesday to review for a third time in a month which congressional districts must be used for the Nov. 3 election after a federal appeals court tipped the case back in favor of a GOP-friendly map supported by President Donald Trump.

Advocates for letting Missouri voters decide the map rather than the Legislature successfully persuaded the high court to reconsider the case after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state must use the 2025 map that state lawmakers drew.

With early ballots already being collected,Justice Brett Kavanaugh directed Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and two congressional candidates in the case to file their arguments by Wednesday afternoon.

The 8th Circuit ruling “demands a new map after votes have already been cast,” wrote attorneys for People Not Politicians, the political action committee that pushed the referendum. “Ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed, and absentee voting, both by mail and in-person, began today. Those ballots cannot be reassigned to new districts now.”

The justices have twice upheld the Missouri Supreme Court’s order that struck down the 2025 map.