The Supreme Court on Friday, Sept. 25, issued an unsigned opinion explaining why it blocked Missouri from using a Republican-favored congressional map for the Nov. 3 election. The justices said Missouri law, as interpreted by the state’s highest court, points to the 2022 district lines, and that changing maps after ballots were printed and voting began risked disruption.
The opinion leaves those 2022 districts in place for the 2026 general election unless the Supreme Court issues another order. It does not finally resolve the federal constitutional dispute or decide whether voters will approve the newer map in a statewide referendum.
Missouri’s Republican-led legislature drew the 2025 map to reshape a Kansas City-area district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and improve Republican prospects for a seventh House seat. Our earlier report on the Court’s previous action covered the immediate effect; Friday’s opinion sets out the justices’ stated reasons.
1. Which map will Missouri voters use in November?
The 2022 congressional map will govern the November general election. Missouri held its Aug. 4 primary under the 2025 map, so the district boundaries used to choose nominees differ from those that will determine which House contests voters face in November. The 2022 lines were also used in the 2022 and 2024 elections, according to PBS News.
The change affects more than the shape of a map. Reporting by the Associated Press cited by PBS News said the redistricting shifted more than 1 million Missouri voters—nearly one in four statewide—between districts. Truthout reported that in 28 counties, at least some voters will be assigned to a different congressional district for the general election than the one used in the primary.
Those figures describe changes to district boundaries and assignments. They do not establish that voters have been disenfranchised or that any particular ballot will be discarded. The Supreme Court’s opinion said ballots based on the 2022 map had already been printed and mailed, and absentee, military and overseas voting had begun. It did not estimate how many voters may need updated information.
The map dispute also concerns who has a chance to represent Missouri in Congress. The state’s current delegation has six Republicans and two Democrats. The 2025 map was designed to improve the Republican Party’s chances of winning seven of the state’s eight House seats, but it does not guarantee that result. Its changes include reshaping Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district; the Supreme Court’s order keeps the earlier boundaries in use for this election.
2. Why did the justices keep the 2022 map?
The Court relied on the Missouri Supreme Court’s interpretation of state law and the late stage of election preparations. In May, Missouri’s highest court said the 2025 map would not take effect before voter approval if a referendum petition was legally sufficient. On Sept. 3, it ruled the petition valid and said the new map could not be used unless voters approved it.
The U.S. Supreme Court summarized that state-law conclusion in its per curiam opinion, an unsigned ruling: “In short, as a matter of state law, the 2022 map—not the 2025 map—must be used in the 2026 congressional election,” as reported by Truthout.
The order followed a rapid sequence of court decisions. On Sept. 8, Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined the secretary of state’s request to pause the Missouri Supreme Court ruling; later that day, a federal district court ordered use of the 2025 map. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed that order on Sept. 10. On Sept. 21, the Eighth Circuit directed the district court to require the 2025 map, and on Sept. 25 the Supreme Court stayed the Eighth Circuit’s mandate and order, along with related district court injunctions. It also kept its Sept. 10 stay in effect. The Eighth Circuit’s order sets the general election for Nov. 3.
The justices emphasized that election administration was already underway. With ballots printed and mailed and some voting in progress, the Court said requiring another switch to the 2025 map could create disorder. Its stated reasoning focused on those circumstances and the state court’s reading of Missouri law.
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The federal lawsuit raised a different question. Rep. Bob Onder, state Sen. Rick Brattin and two voter plaintiffs argued that using one map for the primary and another for the general election would violate federal constitutional protections, including equal protection. They had obtained lower-court orders requiring the 2025 map, which the Supreme Court has now stayed.
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and other state officials argued that using the 2022 map after the primary had been held under the 2025 lines would create constitutional and election-administration problems. In a filing described by Truthout, Solicitor General Lou Capozzi also warned that use of the 2025 map would cause the state to miss a federal deadline for sending ballots to military and overseas voters.
The Supreme Court did not decide the full constitutional question. Its opinion said earlier Supreme Court precedents had not established that the Constitution requires a state to use the same congressional map in the general election that it used for the primary. The justices described the legal merits as not entirely clearcut, making the stay a decision about the immediate election and the competing orders—not a final answer to every federal claim.
3. What remains unresolved about Missouri’s map?
The 2025 map has not been permanently invalidated. A statewide referendum in November will give voters the decision on whether to approve it. Under the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling, the map cannot take effect unless voters approve it; the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday action does not predict the referendum’s outcome.
People Not Politicians, which opposes the new map, asked the Supreme Court for emergency relief after the Eighth Circuit’s decision. The group argued that the lower court’s action conflicted with earlier Supreme Court orders and could create confusion and disruption, according to CBS News.
Cleaver welcomed the decision and accused state officials of trying to silence Missouri voters and take a congressional seat. Those were the representative’s allegations, not findings in the Supreme Court opinion. Gov. Mike Kehoe called the ruling “disappointing” and said the state would follow the order, CBS News reported.
The immediate change is clear: Missouri voters will use the 2022 districts for the Nov. 3 congressional election, even though the August primary used the 2025 map. The referendum will determine whether the newer map can take effect under state law, while the Supreme Court has left the broader constitutional dispute unsettled.
