The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 10, 2026, temporarily barred Missouri from using a newly drawn Republican-favored congressional map, leaving the 2022 districts in place.
Supreme Court halts use of new Missouri map days before ballots are mailed
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, temporarily blocked Missouri from using a newly drawn congressional map that had been backed by Republican state lawmakers and President Donald Trump’s allies, leaving in place the 2022 congressional districts for now. The order was unsigned and did not include the court’s reasoning, according to reporting by national outlets.
Why it matters: the contested plan — enacted by the Missouri legislature in 2025 as House Bill 1 (HB 1) — would have redrawn boundaries in ways critics said were intended to give Republicans an additional U.S. House seat in the November midterm elections. Maintaining the 2022 map preserves the state’s current 6-2 Republican-to-Democrat split for the time being, a change that could affect tight House math nationwide.
The legal fight has moved quickly through state and federal courts and generated conflicting orders that created confusion for election officials and voters. According to The Washington Post and CBS News, the Missouri Supreme Court earlier found that a citizen-led petition to force a referendum on the new map prevented HB 1 from taking effect, and ordered election officials to use the 2022 districts. State officials had moved to implement HB 1 after the legislature approved it last year.
The dispute deepened when a federal judge in St. Louis issued an order in a separate case saying the state should use the new map. Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined to intervene in that appeal earlier in the week, and minutes later the federal judge’s order pushed state officials in a different direction, producing competing directives. The high court’s Thursday order removed the federal judge’s instruction from immediate effect and left the Missouri Supreme Court’s mandate controlling the state’s ballots, reporters said.
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins issued a brief statement that, following the Supreme Court’s action, his office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map. The statement is posted on the secretary of state’s website and was cited by news organizations covering the dispute.
Supporters of HB 1 argued that the late change would be disruptive and burdensome for election administrators and voters who already cast ballots in August primaries under the new boundaries. Opponents — including the group People Not Politicians, which brought one of the challenges — argued that a valid referendum petition meant the legislature’s 2025 map never legally took effect and that voters should decide whether to keep it.
Courts have so far split on how to reconcile those competing claims. The Missouri Supreme Court concluded the referendum process rendered HB 1 void for the November election, while a federal trial judge reached the opposite conclusion in his case. The U.S. Supreme Court’s emergency order put a temporary stop to the federal judge’s directive while litigation continues.
What happens next: the matter remains before state and federal courts as litigants seek further steps, and the parties may ask the high court for additional review. Election officials must follow the controlling judicial directive as they finalize ballots and mail absentee ballots in the coming days, an operational timetable that officials and advocates say has increased pressure on all sides.
Sources
- https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2026/09/10/eeuu/missouri-corte-suprema-mapa-republicanos-trax
- https://elpais.com/us/2026-09-10/el-tribunal-supremo-rechaza-el-mapa-de-misuri-al-congreso-que-beneficia-a-los-republicanos.html
Featured image credit: source image.