A federal appeals court has ruled that Missouri must use the same congressional district map it used in its August primary election for the November general election. The decision was made by a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based in St. Louis. The ruling conflicts with an earlier Missouri Supreme Court decision that said the Republican-drawn 2025 map never legally took effect because of a valid referendum petition.
The panel said the U.S. Constitution requires that the districts used in the August primary be kept for the November election as well, according to Spectrum News. The order does not take effect immediately, according to a report from The Guardian. It has been delayed for one week to give time for potential appeals.
The Missouri Supreme Court had ordered officials to use congressional districts adopted in 2022 for the November election. The state court also ordered that the referendum on the 2025 map be placed before voters in November.
Ballot distribution for overseas and military voters has already begun using the 2022 map. Missouri law requires absentee ballots to be made available to all other voters by Tuesday.
Local election officials had argued that changing districts at this late stage would be too costly and impractical. The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities submitted a legal filing to support that claim. The organization said switching maps could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and would be practically impossible so close to the election.
An attorney representing Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Onder and state Sen. Rick Brattin argued that there was still time to return to the Republican-drawn 2025 map. The appeals court agreed with this argument, citing past cases where courts allowed changes even after absentee ballots were sent out.
Onder and Brattin filed the federal lawsuit after the Missouri Supreme Court ordered use of the 2022 districts. Onder is running for reelection in the 3rd District while Brattin is the Republican nominee in the 5th District.
The appeals court’s decision would require the Republican-drawn 2025 districts to be used in November if the order takes effect and is not blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Eighth Circuit stayed its ruling until Sept. 28 to allow opponents time to seek Supreme Court review.
The case has been closely watched because of the timing and its potential impact on election administration. Election officials have already begun printing ballots and sending them to voters using the 2022 districts.
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, said continuing legal battles at this point would waste taxpayer money. The group organized the referendum drive against the 2025 map and said it plans to appeal the Eighth Circuit decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling is the latest development in a broader debate over how state and federal courts should handle redistricting decisions. Missouri voters have already cast ballots in the August primary using these districts. The final outcome of the legal challenge remains uncertain as further appeals may be filed.
The dispute affects more than 1.4 million Missouri residents who live in different congressional districts under the 2022 and 2025 maps. The Eighth Circuit said about 284,000 people who voted in the August primary would be placed in a different district if the 2022 map were used in November.
The decision was issued on a Monday afternoon, just before the start of the absentee voting period in Missouri. Because the appeals court stayed its own order for a week, election officials are continuing to use the 2022 districts for now. The case could return to the U.S. Supreme Court before the November election.
IMAGE: Author United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri CC0