Federal Appeals Court Rubber-Stamps GOP Gerrymandering in Missouri, Stalls Justice
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A three-judge panel from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Republican-drawn congressional districts for Missouri’s November election, but cynically delayed the order for a week to allow more appeals.
In a blow to fair representation, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion Monday forcing Missouri to use congressional districts engineered by Republican leaders for the November general election—the same map that entrenched GOP power in the August primary. The judges claimed that returning to the previous, more balanced map would somehow violate the Constitution, ignoring the clear intent to disenfranchise voters and dilute the voices of marginalized communities.
The panel’s decision to postpone the effect of its order for seven days is a meager concession, giving just a sliver of hope for further appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court, which has already twice blocked the map and stopped enforcement of a lower-court order that would have restored fairness, continues to play politics with democracy.
As a result, Missouri is forced to proceed with the November election using the same gerrymandered districts from 2024 and 2022, rubber-stamped by conservative courts at both the state and federal level. State election officials have already sent absentee ballots to overseas and military voters based on these manipulated district lines, and state law demands absentee ballots for all other voters be available by Tuesday—further cementing this undemocratic status quo.