Supreme Court keeps Missouri's 2022 map for the 2026 election
Supreme Court of the United StatesUnsigned per curiam order of the full Court in No. 26A388, on an application referred by Circuit Justice Brett Kavanaugh
In an unsigned per curiam order on an application for a stay, the Supreme Court kept Missouri's 2022 map for the 2026 election. Read its order and the docket.
Responding to
Ordering Missouri to return to the 2025 map after ballots have been printed and mailed and voting has begun would create the electoral disorder that the Purcell principle exists to prevent.
“In short, as a matter of state law, the 2022 map—not the 2025 map—must be used in the 2026 congressional election. … At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos. Purcell protects against such disorder. … And the District Court and Court of Appeals should not order or otherwise require Missouri to use the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.”
Original text
Original text
Original text
Where this statement fits
Should Missouri be allowed to use its 2025 congressional map in the 2026 general election?
Missouri lawmakers passed a new congressional map, House Bill 1, in September 2025, and the State used it in the August 4, 2026 primary. On September 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled unanimously that a referendum petition kept the map from taking effect and that the 2022 map remains in force for the November general election. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and President Donald Trump said in early September that the primary map should be used in November, and the Eighth Circuit held on September 21 that using the 2022 map violates the U.S. Constitution. People Not Politicians, the Campaign Legal Center and the ACLU argued that Missouri law makes the 2022 map the only valid map and that ballots had been mailed under it. On September 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned per curiam order that records no dissent, stayed the federal injunctions, said that under state law the 2022 map must be used, and said lower courts should not require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 election. Kehoe called that decision disappointing and said Missouri will follow the order.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Unsigned per curiam order on an application that Circuit Justice Brett Kavanaugh referred to the full Court. It stays the Eighth Circuit's September 21 mandate and September 22 order and the district court's September 21 and 22 injunctions, keeps the Court's September 10 stay in place, and says the lower courts should not prohibit use of the 2022 map or require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri. The text of the order shows no separate opinion or noted dissent.
Original text
About this source
The Court's docket records the September 22 stay application, the September 23 responses and amicus briefs, and the September 25 order granting the stay.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original text
About this source
One-page unsigned order staying the district court's September 8 order pending the Eighth Circuit appeal and any timely petition for certiorari. The order gives no reasoning.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The Court had stayed the district court's first order requiring the 2025 map on September 10. On September 21, the Eighth Circuit ordered a permanent injunction requiring that map, and People Not Politicians and Richard von Glahn applied to the Court for a stay on September 22.
After the quotation
The order keeps the September 10 stay in place until the Court lifts it, and it says the district court and Eighth Circuit should not prohibit use of the 2022 map.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is use of the 2025 map in the 2026 general election. The Court rejects that use on state-law and Purcell grounds and directs that lower courts not require it. The closest competing label, “Mixed or conditional”, loses because the order's caution that the merits are not entirely clearcut does not qualify its operative direction against using the 2025 map.
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More from this case
Read the full caseRichard von Glahn says People Not Politicians is "done with corrupt politicians trying to force their map into effect"
“We are done with corrupt politicians trying to force their map into effect outside the process outlined in the Missouri constitution. We have said from the beginning, people, not politicians will be the final deciders on this DC power grab. We are moving forward to vote NO on Proposition A.”Read statement
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee says the Supreme Court "denied Missouri Republicans' third attempt to jam through their 2025 gerrymander"
National Democratic Redistricting Committee
“BREAKING: SCOTUS just denied Missouri Republicans' third attempt to jam through their 2025 gerrymander! 👏 This reaffirms what the state's highest court already said weeks ago — the 2025 map was never the law. Missouri Republicans tried to silence voters. Today, they lost.”Read statement
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says the Supreme Court "put this shameful and unlawful scheme to rest"
“For more than a year, state officials have spent precious time, energy, and resources on an effort to silence the voices of Missouri voters and steal a congressional seat. Tonight, after more than 305,000 Missourians demanded a say, the Supreme Court has put this shameful and unlawful scheme to rest. Power to the people.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Supreme Court keeps Missouri's 2022 map for the 2026 election". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/2669-in-an-unsigned-per-curiam-order-on-an