The Supreme Court issued a crucial ruling Thursday, effectively halting a Republican state official’s attempt to utilize a newly drawn congressional map for this year’s election in Missouri. The court, in a terse order with no dissenting opinions, granted an emergency request brought by People Not Politicians, a group led by activist Richard von Glahn, who sought to use the map for this year’s congressional elections. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ legal team informed the U.S. Supreme Court justices just minutes earlier that only Clark’s order is ‘preventing the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters’ who participated in the primary election using the new congressional map. The decision comes after Missouri-based U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark ruled on Tuesday that the new map must be used, notwithstanding the Missouri Supreme Court’s opposite conclusion. Missouri Secretary of State Hoskins’ lawyers stated that only Clark’s order is ‘preventing the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters’ who participated in the primary election using the new congressional map. This is the second instance of a similar dispute involving congressional maps in Missouri, with the Supreme Court first rejecting a request from Hoskins seeking to block the Missouri Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Missouri Supreme Court is considering whether to hold Hoskins in contempt for defying its previous ruling. The court is scheduled to hold a hearing at 11:00 a.m. ET, instructing Hoskins to attend in person. The broader legal battle centers on a congressional map enacted in 2025, part of a nationwide redistricting push spearheaded by President Donald Trump, which sought to eliminate one of Missouri’s two Democratic-held seats. The new map was designed to eliminate the seat currently held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. With the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling in effect, the map drawn in 2022, which comprised six Republican-held seats and two Democratic-held seats, will remain in place for the general election. The legal fight began when opponents of the new map gathered signatures in support of a state referendum that would undo the GOP-drawn map and put it on hold for the 2026 election. However, Hoskins delayed a decision on whether to include the measure on the ballot, waiting to the last minute before rejecting the plan, arguing that redistricting plans are not subject to voters’ approval. The Missouri Supreme Court, which has a majority of Republican appointees, disagreed, stating that there was nothing in state law that exempted congressional maps passed by the Legislature from being vetoed by voters via the referendum process. The federal lawsuit was filed by Rick Brattin, the Republican nominee in the district currently held by Cleaver, as well as Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., and two voters. Clark then ruled Tuesday that the state must use the map that people voted in during the primary. The drama is playing out even after Tuesday’s deadline to finalize Missouri ballots ahead of this fall’s elections. First ballots are set to go out in the state on September 19th. The Supreme Court’s ruling effectively halts the use of the newly drawn congressional map, potentially impacting the congressional elections scheduled for the general election.”}”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
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Source: NBC News
