Missouri Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed map from November’s midterms

Republicans have pledged to appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court with only months until the midterm elections.

A demonstrator in front of the State Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri, carries signs in favour of a redistricting referendum on September 2 [David A Lieb/AP Photo]

The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously blocked a congressional map backed by United States President Donald Trump ahead of November’s midterm elections, restoring the state’s previous districts.

Thursday’s ruling delivered a rare judicial rebuke to Trump in the national battle over redistricting . But it is unlikely to be the final word in the case, with Republican officials already pledging to appeal the ruling.

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At the heart of the case is a congressional map signed into law in September 2025, designed to help Republicans win an extra seat in the US House of Representatives this year.

But the partisan redistricting effort prompted a popular backlash, with nearly 300,000 Missouri residents signing a petition to instead put the new map to a vote.

Missouri’s Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition as legally insufficient. That set up the legal fight, which the Missouri Supreme Court decided on Thursday.

“The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the court wrote in its ruling.

It added that the Missouri Constitution has made such petitions legal, and “no exception applies”. The court is staffed by seven judges, five of whom are Republican-appointed.

The decision, however, places Missouri in a complicated position. Two months remain until the midterm elections, and ballots will soon be printed.

There are also outstanding legal questions over whether a state’s general election can use different congressional districts than its primaries did.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, said she would immediately appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court. She called Thursday’s decision a “full-fledged constitutional crisis”.

“Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election,” she said in a statement.

Trump also denounced the ruling in a social media post , calling it “horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional”.

“The Missouri Supreme Court just ridiculously ruled in favor of changing the maps back to what they were a long time ago. It’s called, Ancient History,” he wrote.

Last year, Trump triggered the nationwide redistricting fight when he approached Texas state lawmakers to redraw their maps in a way that would give Republicans an advantage.

Normally, congressional maps are redrawn once every 10 years to reflect census results.

But Trump encouraged Republican-led states to issue new maps mid-decade, as a strategy to help the right-wing party maintain control over the House.

Some 10 states ultimately decided to redistrict, including Missouri. Most tilted in favour of Republicans. California, meanwhile, redrew its map to skew Democratic.

Prior to Thursday’s ruling, Missouri’s Supreme Court affirmed that the special legislative action to change the state’s congressional map was lawful. In the US, no federal law bars partisan redistricting, known as gerrymandering.

But Thursday’s decision upheld the legality of the petition campaign to put the map up for a vote.

The Missouri Supreme Court barred the 2025 map from being used in November’s midterm election or any future election until Missouri voters approve it first.

The group People Not Politicians spearheaded the referendum petition. In a statement on Thursday, it applauded the state court’s decision, which overturned a lower court ruling.

“Supreme Court of Missouri has ruled: Missourians will vote on politicians’ rigged map,” the group wrote on social media.

It also blamed Missouri’s secretary of state for any hurdles to restoring the old map.

“Hoskins had the power to prevent all this confusion months ago — and he chose not to,” the group said.

A day before the court’s ruling, hundreds of people rallied outside the state Supreme Court, chanting: “Let us vote!”

Grant Christensen, a resident of Jefferson City and referendum supporter, said he had signed the petition.

“Gerrymandering is the same as voter suppression,” Christensen said. “Cutting up districts in order to steer them to vote one way or the other is not fair.”

Missouri’s 2025 congressional map had already shaped the state’s primary elections. Critics, however, point out that Hoskins did not reject the referendum until August 4, the day of the party primaries.

The outcome of the legal battle is likely to be most pivotal for Missouri’s 5th congressional district, currently held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. His district, which encompasses parts of Kansas City, was reshaped to favour Republicans.

距离中期选举仅剩几个月，共和党人已承诺将就此裁决向美国最高法院提起上诉。

9月2日，一名示威者在密苏里州杰斐逊市州议会大厦前举着支持重新划分选区公投的标语。[David A Lieb/AP Photo]

密苏里州最高法院一致否决了美国总统唐纳德·特朗普支持的国会选区划分方案，该方案旨在11月的中期选举中恢复该州之前的选区划分。

周四的裁决罕见地对特朗普在全国范围内的选区重划之争中予以司法驳斥。但这不太可能是此案的最终结果，共和党官员已经誓言要提起上诉。

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本案的核心是一份于 2025 年 9 月签署生效的国会选区划分图，该地图旨在帮助共和党今年在美国众议院赢得一个额外的席位。

但党派间的选区重划行动引发了民众的强烈反对，近 30 万密苏里州居民签署了一份请愿书，要求将新的选区划分方案付诸投票表决。

密苏里州州务卿丹尼·霍斯金斯以法律依据不足为由驳回了该请愿书。这引发了这场法律诉讼，密苏里州最高法院于周四对此案作出裁决。

法院在裁决中写道：“公民投票请愿书合法、充分且及时，而秘书却错误地得出了相反的结论。”

声明还指出，密苏里州宪法已使此类请愿合法化，“没有任何例外”。该法院由七名法官组成，其中五名由共和党任命。

然而，这一决定使密苏里州陷入了进退两难的境地。距离中期选举还有两个月，选票也即将印制完成。

此外，关于一个州的大选是否可以使用与初选不同的国会选区，也存在悬而未决的法律问题。

密苏里州共和党籍总检察长凯瑟琳·哈纳威表示，她将立即就此裁决向美国最高法院提起上诉。她称周四的裁决是一场“全面的宪法危机”。

她在声明中说：“在美国历史上，法院从未在初选后、大选前推翻过国会选区划分图。”

特朗普还在社交媒体上发帖谴责了这项裁决，称其“可怕、荒谬且违宪”。

“密苏里州最高法院刚刚做出了一个荒谬的裁决，支持将地图改回很久以前的模样。这叫做‘远古历史’，”他写道。

去年，特朗普与德克萨斯州议员接触，要求他们重新划分选区，以使共和党人获得优势，从而引发了全国范围内的选区重划之争。

通常情况下，国会选区地图每 10 年重新绘制一次，以反映人口普查结果。

但特朗普鼓励共和党领导的各州在本世纪中期发布新的选区地图，以此作为帮助右翼政党维持对众议院控制权的策略。

最终，包括密苏里州在内的约10个州决定重新划分选区。大多数州的选区划分结果都有利于共和党。与此同时，加利福尼亚州重新划分了选区，使之更有利于民主党。

在周四的裁决之前，密苏里州最高法院确认，修改该州国会选区划分的特别立法行动是合法的。在美国，没有联邦法律禁止党派划分选区，也就是所谓的“杰利蝾螈”（gerrymandering）。

但周四的裁决维护了将该地图公投的请愿活动的合法性。

密苏里州最高法院禁止在11月的中期选举或任何未来的选举中使用2025年选区划分地图，直到密苏里州选民首先批准为止。

“人民而非政客”组织牵头发起了这项公投请愿。该组织周四发表声明，对州法院推翻下级法院裁决的决定表示赞赏。

该组织在社交媒体上写道：“密苏里州最高法院已裁定：密苏里州选民将对政客操纵的选区划分方案进行投票。”

它还指责密苏里州州务卿阻碍了旧地图的恢复。

该组织表示：“霍斯金斯几个月前就有能力阻止这一切混乱，但他却选择了不这样做。”

在法院裁决的前一天，数百人聚集在州最高法院外，高喊：“让我们投票！”

杰斐逊市居民、公投支持者格兰特·克里斯滕森表示，他已在请愿书上签名。

克里斯滕森说：“选区划分不公等同于选民压制。为了引导选民投票给某一方而分割选区是不公平的。”

密苏里州2025年的国会选区划分图已经影响了该州的初选。然而，批评人士指出，霍斯金斯直到8月4日，也就是党内初选当天，才否决了这项公投结果。

这场法律诉讼的结果很可能对密苏里州第五国会选区最为关键，该选区目前由民主党人伊曼纽尔·克利弗 (Emanuel Cleaver) 代表。他的选区涵盖堪萨斯城的部分地区，但经过重新划分后更有利于共和党。