Missouri election officials urge voters to pause as Supreme Court weighs gerrymandered map

Key points

• Absentee voting began in Missouri on Tuesday, but officials in affected counties are urging voters to wait for a Supreme Court decision.
• The U.S. Supreme Court is currently reviewing a third appeal regarding the use of the 2025 gerrymandered map versus the 2022 map.
• The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the state to use the 2025 map but paused the order until September 28 to allow for Supreme Court intervention.
• Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon noted that a map change could affect 40% of her county’s voters, and there is no mechanism to cure a ballot cast under the wrong map.
• The dispute stems from a state Supreme Court ruling that the 2025 map never legally took effect due to a delayed referendum process by Secretary of State Denny Hoskins.

Background

This legal battle follows a year of intense redistricting conflict in Missouri, where Republicans attempted to pass a map that would shift the House delegation from 6-2 to 7-1 in favor of their party. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in September that the new map could not be used until voters approved it via a referendum, a decision that was subsequently challenged in federal courts. Earlier in 2026, the state faced similar legal uncertainties regarding federal election security measures, but the current crisis is specifically tied to the validity of the congressional district lines.

How outlets are covering it

Outlets highlight different aspects of the chaos. POLITICO emphasizes the practical impact on voters, noting that local clerks are actively advising people to hold off on voting to avoid casting ballots under potentially invalid district lines. Fox News focuses on the legal arguments, citing former DOJ official Abhishek Kambli, who argues that switching maps after the primary violates the Purcell principle and disenfranchises voters who already participated in the August primary. Democracy Docket offers a critical view of the state’s actions, arguing that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins deliberately delayed the referendum process to force the use of the gerrymandered map for the primary, and that Republicans are now blaming the state Supreme Court for the resulting confusion. SCOTUSblog provides a neutral procedural overview, noting that the dispute has returned to the Supreme Court’s interim docket for a third time, with responses filed by both the state and opponents of the new map.

Why it matters

The outcome will determine whether Missouri uses a map that favors Republicans by one seat or the previous map, which favored them by two. It also sets a precedent for how courts handle last-minute redistricting challenges and the rights of voters who have already participated in primaries under one set of lines. The Supreme Court’s decision could come at any moment, potentially forcing a rapid change in ballot printing and voting systems in the final weeks before the election.

What to watch

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision on the Missouri map dispute in the coming days, as the Eighth Circuit’s order is paused until September 28. If the Supreme Court does not intervene, the 2025 gerrymandered map will likely be used in November. Local election officials are preparing to reprint ballots and reprogram voting systems if a map change is ordered, a process they describe as a potential 'weekend project.'