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…

Missouricaseupdates, Latest, mid-decade redistricting, Missouri

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…

Local Redistrictingcaseupdates, local-news, Texas

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

By EditorSep 07, 20260 Comments

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…

Maryland, State Lawscaseupdates, Latest, Maryland, mid-decade redistricting

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

By EditorSep 07, 20260 Comments

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…

FEATURES, Texascaseupdates, lawindepth, racial gerrymandering, Texas, Voting Rights Act

Missouri Supreme Court Blocks 2025 Congressional Map, Orders Referendum

By EditorSep 05, 20260 Comments

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…

Case Updates, Missouricaseupdates, Latest, mid-decade redistricting, Missouri

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.…

Redistrictingcaseupdates, Latest, lawindepth, mid-decade redistricting, Missouri, referendum

Federal Court Panel Clears Tennessee Congressional Map for the 2026 Primaries

By EditorJul 26, 2026

A three-judge federal panel denied the ACLU's request for a preliminary injunction in Sherman v. Hargett, allowing Tennessee's redrawn map, which splits majority-Black Memphis into three districts, to be used in the August 6 primary. The panel, composed of two Trump-appointed judges and one Obama appointee, concluded the evidence pointed to partisan politics rather than race as the driving force, writing that plaintiffs "haven't presented meaningful evidence that race, not politics, motivated Tennessee's May 2026 map." The per curiam opinion also cited the Purcell principle, stating "the public is better served by a map created by its elected representatives, not…

Tennesseecaseupdates, mid-decade redistricting, Tennessee

Supreme Court’s Emergency Order Restores Alabama’s 2023 Congressional Map

By EditorJun 04, 2026

The Supreme Court on Tuesday night allowed Alabama to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year's elections, blocking a lower court ruling that the map intentionally discriminates against Black voters. The justices granted the state's emergency appeal to use a map it adopted in 2023 that has a majority-Black population in just one of its seven congressional districts. The three liberal justices dissented. The ruling takes effect immediately, meaning Alabama will use its 2023 map for its August 11 special primary elections covering the affected congressional districts. Unlike many shadow docket orders, the majority provided some explanation in…

Redistricting LitigationAlabama, caseupdates, Latest, mid-decade redistricting

NAACP Loses State Court Battle Over Tennessee’s Redrawn Map – But Federal Fight Continues

By EditorMay 28, 2026

On May 26, a three-judge panel in state court dismissed a challenge to Tennessee's 2026 congressional map and election law changes, ruling in favor of state officials and leaving the new congressional map in place. The lawsuit was filed by the NAACP Tennessee State Conference and other petitioners, arguing that legislation passed during the special session, which included a new congressional map, changes to election procedures, and the repeal of a ban on mid-decade redistricting, violated the Tennessee Constitution and state law. In its order, the court wrote that "the sovereign State of Tennessee is immune from lawsuits "except as…

Tennesseecaseupdates, mid-decade redistricting, Tennessee

Missouri’s Congressional Map Survives Another Legal Challenge, but the Referendum Fight Is Still Alive

By EditorMay 28, 2026

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on May 27 that Gov. Mike Kehoe acted within his constitutional authority when he convened the special legislative session that produced the state's new congressional map, rejecting a legal challenge brought by the Missouri NAACP. In a unanimous opinion, the court held that the governor has broad authority to determine when and for what purpose to call the legislature into an "extraordinary" session, affirming the judgment of the lower trial court. The ruling closes out one of three legal tracks challenging Missouri's new map. The referendum signature dispute remains pending in state court, with Secretary…

Missouricaseupdates, mid-decade redistricting, Missouri