Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities on returning to the 2025 map in a brief to the Eighth Circuit
Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election AuthoritiesStatewide professional association of Missouri's county clerks and local election authorities, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed September 15 in the Eighth Circuit, the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities asked the court to reverse the district court's September 8 temporary restraining order, which barred the Secretary of State from using the pre-House Bill 1 map. It wrote that it is practically impossible to revert to the House Bill 1 map because of the time and cost of reprinting and distributing new ballots, and that any further change inflicts additional vertigo on local election authorities and the millions of Missourians who rely on them.
“At this point, it is practically impossible to revert to the HB 1 map due to the extensive time and cost required to reprint and distribute new ballots within statutory timelines. Any further change inflicts additional vertigo on local election authorities—and the millions of Missourians who rely on them—after ostensibly-final resolution consistent with Missouri law”
Original text
Original text
Reporting
Reporting
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
Friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities in the Eighth Circuit appeal of the district court's September 8 temporary restraining order. It supports reversal of that order.
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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.
Reporting
About this source
Democracy Docket report of September 22, 2026 on election administrators' concerns after the Eighth Circuit's September 21 ruling. It quotes the friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities and comments from Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon.
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About this source
Missouri Independent report by Rudi Keller, published by KCUR on September 16, 2026. It describes the friend-of-the-court brief the clerks' association filed with the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday, September 15, and the state's filing that day.
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On September 10, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a federal order requiring the 2025 map, and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins then directed local election authorities to use the 2022 map, KCUR reported. A three-judge Eighth Circuit panel was to hear arguments in the federal case on Thursday, September 17.
After the quotation
On September 21, the Eighth Circuit ruled that Missouri must use the 2025 map. Democracy Docket reported that the court predicted election administrators would need only a "few days" to change ballots. On September 25, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the Eighth Circuit's September 21 mandate.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The fixed reference point is use of Missouri's 2025 map (House Bill 1) in the November 3, 2026 general election. The association's brief asked the Eighth Circuit to reverse the order requiring that map and argued that reverting to it is practically impossible because of the time and cost of reprinting and distributing ballots. The brief says its purpose is to illustrate the financial and practical burdens of changing the congressional district lines. It argues against using the 2025 map in the general election, so we labeled it Condemned.
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The Dispute Index. "Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities on returning to the 2025 map in a brief to the Eighth Circuit". First published: 2026-09-29. Last updated: 2026-09-29. https://disputeindex.com/events/3344-in-a-friend-of-the-court-brief-filed