Supreme Court halts GOP-led Missouri redistricting

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against a GOP-backed Missouri congressional map, just weeks before the Nov. 3 congressional midterm elections. In a short emergency order, the Supreme Court said the new map would be blocked while an appeal in the case continues in the court system. The order likely means that the state’s old map for U.S. House districts will be used for the November midterm elections. The now-rejected newer map was passed by the state’s Republicans in hopes of securing an extra House seat.

A legal battle over the new map has been ongoing for about a year. The emergency order came after two contradictory lower court decisions on Tuesday added confusion to the fight:

• A Missouri federal judge temporarily blocked the state from using its old map. He said one reason for his decision was that the state already used the new map for its primary elections, and switching the districts before the general election would cause widespread confusion.

• But the U.S. Supreme Court that same day left in place a Missouri Supreme Court decision ordering the use of the old districts. The top Missouri court said that a petition gathered enough signatures to require a statewide referendum about using the new map.