Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-22 · by David A. Lieb The Associated Press
A long-running legal fight over Missouri’s congressional map took another turn Monday when a federal appeals panel ruled in favor of new districts backed by President Donald Trump, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked those districts from being used in the November election.
asserted
Court → run → election
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Missouri should use the new Republican-drawn U.S. House districts in the November election, just as the state did in its August primary.
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state → say → primary
To revert to its prior districts for the general election would violate the U.S. Constitution, the appeals judges said.
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judges → revert → Constitution
The appeals panel directed a lower court judge to issue a permanent injunction against using anything other than the map favored by Trump.
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panel → direct → Trump
But the ruling has no immediate impact.
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ruling → have → impact
That’s because the panel also ordered the judge to delay the effect of the order for one week to allow time for an appeal.
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panel → ’ → appeal
The judge quickly did so.
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judge → do → ?
Opponents of the new map said Monday that they will file an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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they → say → Court
The Supreme Court already has twice sided against the Trump-backed map.
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Court → side → map
Earlier this month, it blocked enforcement of a lower court order favoring the new map pending a potential appeal and eventual decision by the high court.
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it → block → court
Missouri currently is set to run its November election with the same congressional districts it used in 2024 and 2022, following prior decisions by both the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
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it → set → Court
Appeals panel ruling comes amid absentee voting
Local elections officials already have sent absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military voters using the 2022 districts.
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officials → come → districts
State law requires absentee ballots to be available to all other voters by Tuesday.
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ballots → require → Tuesday
Local elections officials theoretically could scramble to change ballots again and could send replacements for ones already distributed.
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officials → scramble → ones
But if voters already have cast an absentee ballot, they cannot change their vote — even if the district boundaries have changed.
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boundaries → cast → vote
Miller County Clerk Clinton Jenkins said he mailed an absentee ballot Friday to a Missouri voter living in Australia and also sent ballots to other overseas voters.
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he → say → voters
But he suggested that other people “wait a little deeper into the absentee period, just in case” the congressional district boundaries get swapped again.
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boundaries → suggest → case
To try to change districts at this late date would be “practically impossible” and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities had told appeals judges in a legal filing.
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Association → try → filing
But an attorney representing Republicans who sued — including U.S. Rep. Bob Onder and state Sen. Rick Brattin, a congressional candidate — suggested during arguments last Thursday that there still is time to revert to the Trump-backed map.
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who → represent → map
The appeals panel agreed, pointing to other cases in which courts have ordered changes after absentee ballots already had been distributed to overseas citizens and military voters.
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ballots → agree → citizens
The group People Not Politicians, which spearheaded a referendum petition to put the new map to a statewide vote on the November ballot, said it will appeal the latest decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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it → spearhead → Court
“Ballots have been printed, and Missourians have already voted.
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Missourians → print → ?
Thousands more will vote before this order seeks to take effect,” Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, said in a statement.
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Glahn → vote → statement
“Officials should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on pointless legal action and instead focus on administering our elections.”
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Officials → stop → elections
Court ruling highlights constitutional conflict
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ruling → highlight → conflict
The 8th Circuit decision puts the federal court at odds with Missouri’s top court.
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decision → put → court
“The Constitution does not permit Missouri to use a different congressional district map in the November 2026 general election than it used in the August 2026 primary election,” the appeals panel wrote in its decision.
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panel → permit → decision
The panel consists of Judge James Loken, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, and two appointees of Trump — Judges David Stras and Justin Smith.
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panel → consist → Trump
Prior to his June appointment, Smith was an attorney who represented Trump as he unsuccessfully appealed a $5 million jury verdict in a lawsuit filed by the writer E. Jean Carroll to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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he → represent → Court
Earlier this month, the Missouri Supreme Court said the state forbids the use of districts passed last September because opponents submitted thousands of petition signatures in December calling for a statewide vote on the new districts.
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opponents → say → districts
Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until August — on the same day that the primary was held under the new districts — to reject the petition.
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primary → wait → petition
He asserted that referendum petitions aren’t allowed for congressional redistricting.
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petitions → assert → redistricting
The Missouri Supreme Court reversed Hoskins’ finding, ruling that the state must use the districts approved in 2022 for the November election.
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state → reverse → election
The high court then temporarily held Hoskins in contempt when he directed local election officials to use the 2025 map after a federal district court order favoring it.
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he → hold → it
Missouri’s redistricting targets Kansas City
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redistricting → target → City
The new congressional map backed by Trump significantly reshapes a Kansas City-based district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
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map → back → Cleaver
Republicans hope the map could help them win seven of the state’s eight House seats — one more than they currently hold.
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they → hope → seats
Cleaver was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and Brattin won a multi-way Republican primary.
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Brattin → win → primary
Brattin praised Monday’s appeals panel decision, saying that switching districts after the primary “defies common sense and undermines the entire electoral process.”
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switching → praise → process
About 59% of the 5th District’s potential voters are new under the revised map, which also changes several other districts.
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which → revise → districts
…and 4 more, not listed.
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