U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Missouri’s 2025 Map for a Third Time, Closing the Midterm Fight

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Missouri’s 2025 Map for a Third Time, Closing the Midterm Fight

By EditorSep 26, 20260 Comments
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, September 25, ordered that Missouri conduct its November congressional election under the map drawn in 2022, staying orders from the Eighth Circuit and the Eastern District of Missouri that would have required use of a map the legislature passed in a 2025 special session. The unsigned order in People Not Politicians v. Onder, No. 26A388, drew no recorded dissents and stated plainly: "In short, as a matter of state law, the 2022 map, not the 2025 map, must be used in the 2026 congressional election." It was the third time in three weeks the…
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Texas Supreme Court Bars Galveston County From Changing Maps Between Primary and General

Texas Supreme Court Bars Galveston County From Changing Maps Between Primary and General

By EditorSep 15, 20260 Comments
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday, September 11, barred Galveston County from using precinct boundaries it adopted after the March primary in the November general election. In an unsigned opinion, the court treated a primary and its corresponding general election as a single election under the Texas Election Code, writing that "[n]either the Texas Constitution nor any statute authorizes the County to take the unusual and perhaps unprecedented step of choosing to conduct a general election using precinct lines that differ from those used in the corresponding primary election absent an overriding state or federal law obligating it to do…
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Updated: Dueling Orders Leave Missouri’s Congressional Map Unresolved

Updated: Dueling Orders Leave Missouri’s Congressional Map Unresolved

By EditorSep 09, 2026
Two federal decisions landed within minutes of each other on September 8, pointing in opposite directions. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, acting alone and without explanation, rejected Missouri Republican officials' emergency application to stay the Missouri Supreme Court's September 3 ruling, leaving the 2022 map in place for November. Moments later, Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark of the Eastern District of Missouri issued a 14-day temporary restraining order barring Secretary of State Denny Hoskins from using any map other than the one drawn in the 2025 special session, ruling in a suit filed September 4 by U.S. Rep.…
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Maryland Supreme Court Sends Redistricting Amendment to Voters, With Rewritten Language

Maryland Supreme Court Sends Redistricting Amendment to Voters, With Rewritten Language

By EditorSep 07, 2026
The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled on September 3 that a proposed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting will appear on the November ballot, reversing two circuit courts that had blocked it. The amendment would supersede a 2022 circuit court ruling by Judge Lynne Battaglia that applied the Maryland Constitution's compactness and contiguity requirements to congressional districts for the first time, standards previously understood to govern only state legislative districts. Senate President Bill Ferguson cited that ruling when he declined to have a Senate vote on a House-passed congressional map in February. The amendment (HB 2100) is intended to remove the…
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Galveston County, TX – A County Commission Map Fight With National Consequences

Galveston County, TX – A County Commission Map Fight With National Consequences

By EditorSep 07, 2026
The litigation over Galveston County's precinct maps - the term Texas law uses for county commissioner, justice of the peace, and constable districts - is closely watched for its implications for voting rights law, in particular the viability of minority coalition claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The lead case is Petteway v. Galveston County, which includes claims of intentional discrimination and racial gerrymandering under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments that remain pending in federal court, and a separate dispute over district/precinct boundaries the county adopted in June 2026 is proceeding in state court. A summary of…
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Missouri Supreme Court Blocks 2025 Congressional Map, Orders Referendum

Missouri Supreme Court Blocks 2025 Congressional Map, Orders Referendum

By EditorSep 05, 2026
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously on September 3 that the state's 2025 congressional map cannot be used in the November election and that voters must approve it by referendum. Writing for the court, Judge Ginger Gooch held that the Missouri Constitution's provision authorizing a referendum on "any act of the general assembly" contains no exception for redistricting because the plain language of the Missouri Constitution authorizes a referendum for any act of the general assembly, and no existing exception applies. The decision reverses Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green, who had ruled in August that the federal Elections Clause…
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Missouri Judge Blocks Redistricting Referendum From November Ballot. Appeal Filed

Missouri Judge Blocks Redistricting Referendum From November Ballot. Appeal Filed

By EditorAug 21, 2026
A Missouri judge has ruled that the state's congressional map cannot be put to a referendum vote. On August 19, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green upheld Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' refusal to place the referendum on the November ballot, found Hoskins' decision lawful, and ordered that the 2025 map "remain in full force and effect for the 2026 general election." Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the map into law on September 28, 2025, after calling the Republican-led General Assembly into a special session in response to President Trump's request that GOP-controlled states redraw their congressional boundaries before the midterms.…
Redistricting, , , , ,
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Galveston County, TX: A Local Redistricting Case With National Reach

Galveston County, TX: A Local Redistricting Case With National Reach

By EditorAug 21, 2026
The litigation over Galveston County's precinct maps - the term Texas law uses for county commissioner, justice of the peace, and constable districts - is closely watched for its implications for voting rights law, in particular the viability of minority coalition claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In addition, claims of intentional discrimination and racial gerrymandering under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments remain pending in federal court, and separate litigation over a new map the county adopted in June 2026 is proceeding in state court. A summary of the litigation thus far is below. Galveston County voters…
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Draft Census Rule Would Affect Apportionment and Block-Level Race Data

Draft Census Rule Would Affect Apportionment and Block-Level Race Data

By EditorAug 16, 2026
A draft federal rule circulating within the Trump administration would change both who the census counts for congressional apportionment and what the census is permitted to ask. The document proposes two independent regulations: one narrowing the definition of "usual residence" so that foreign citizens other than lawful permanent residents, approved asylees, and approved refugees would not be counted for apportionment, and one barring questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from the census questionnaire. It is important to note that the draft is marked predecisional, and does not purport to be final. The rule has not been published in the…
Census Law, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, , , , , ,
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Missouri Secretary of State Rejects Redistricting Referendum on Constitutional Grounds

Missouri Secretary of State Rejects Redistricting Referendum on Constitutional Grounds

By EditorAug 06, 2026
The referendum fight that loomed over Missouri's congressional map for months came to a head on August 4, 2026, when Secretary of State Denny Hoskins declined to certify the referendum petition, declaring it unconstitutional a few hours before polls closed in the state's primary election. Hoskins refused to tell reporters whether the petition contained enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot, saying the count was irrelevant because the Missouri Constitution does not permit a referendum on redistricting. "Whether they had one signature or 500 million signatures doesn't really matter because they are unconstitutional," Hoskins said, noting that the…
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