Missouri congressional map dispute reaches appeals court

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering an attempt to implement new Republican-drawn congressional districts in Missouri. These maps, which were backed by Donald Trump, were used during the state's August primary but have been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court for use in the upcoming November general election.

Missouri is currently scheduled to use the same congressional districts employed in 2022 and 2024 for the November vote. This means approximately one million voters, or nearly one-quarter of the state, will vote in different districts than they did during the primary. Local election officials have noted that changing the maps at this stage would be ‘practically impossible’ and costly, as they are already printing ballots and facing federal deadlines for mailing absentee ballots to military and overseas voters.

In a separate legal development, a new lawsuit in Cole County seeks to void the August primary results for the 5th Congressional District. The plaintiffs, including losing GOP candidates and members of the district's Republican committee, argue that the significant changes to the district boundaries necessitate a new nomination process for the general election.