Federal Appeals Court Upholds Missouri GOP Redistricting Map, Delays Implementation
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Missouri must use the Republican-drawn congressional districts for the November election, but delayed the order for a week to allow further appeals.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion Monday directing Missouri to use the congressional districts drawn by Republican leaders for the November general election, the same map used in the August primary. The judges said reverting to the previous map would violate the Constitution.
The panel postponed the effect of its order for seven days to give parties time to seek a higher-court review. The U.S. Supreme Court has already blocked the map twice and halted enforcement of a lower-court order that favored it, pending further appeal.
As a result, Missouri will continue to conduct the November election with the districts employed in 2024 and 2022, consistent with rulings from both the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. State election officials have already mailed absentee ballots to overseas and military voters using the current district lines, and state law requires absentee ballots for all other voters to be available by Tuesday.