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Missouri Map Back in Front of SCOTUS 09/10 06:25
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A battle over Missouri's congressional districts
vaulted back to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, two months before a
pivotal November election that will determine control of Congress and affect
the fate of President Donald Trump's agenda.
A series of conflicting court rulings has left a scar on Missouri -- and
left voters befuddled and unsure which U.S. House districts they will be voting
in and which candidates will appear on their ballots.
A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday sided with Republicans, declining
to halt a federal judge's order favoring a new map backed by Trump. But that
decision immediately was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which just a day
earlier had let stand a ruling by Missouri's top court against the Trump-backed
districts.
Time is rapidly expiring to figure it out. Federal law sets a Sept. 19
deadline to mail absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military voters.
Here's a look at how Missouri arrived at this point and the difficulties it
now faces.
Missouri acted quickly to draw districts to Trump's liking
Trump urged Republican-led states last year to redraw congressional
districts to their advantage ahead of the midterm elections. Texas went first.
Missouri was the second GOP state to act. State lawmakers passed new U.S. House
districts last September targeting a Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
The new districts were intended to help Republicans win seven of the state's
eight House seats in the midterm elections -- a gain of one seat.
Opponents gathered petition signatures to force a vote
Redistricting opponents collected hundreds of thousands of petition
signatures seeking to force a statewide vote on the new districts. They
submitted the signatures in December. But Republican Secretary of State Denny
Hoskins waited until August -- on the same day as Missouri's primary -- to
reject the petition. Hoskins asserted that a referendum petition could not be
used for congressional redistricting.
The delay by Hoskins was intentional. It allowed Missouri's new
congressional districts to be used in the primaries.
Missouri's top court said the new districts never became law
The Missouri Supreme Court said Hoskins was wrong. It ordered him to put the
redistricting referendum on the November ballot, which he did. But more than
that, the court said the new districts never became law and instead were
suspended retroactively to the December petition submission.
The court barred Hoskins from using the new map and said the old map --
passed by Republican lawmakers in 2022 after the last census -- must be used in
the November election. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an
appeal.
A federal judge issued a conflicting ruling
Mere minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court's action, federal District Judge
Stephen Clark of Missouri issued a contradictory decision. He temporarily
barred Hoskins from using any map other than the new congressional districts in
the November election. Clark said switching districts between the primary and
general election could violate voters' federal rights.
Redistricting opponents asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to
reverse Clark's order, but it declined to do so. So they quickly asked the U.S.
Supreme Court to intervene.
Redistricting opponents also have asked the Missouri Supreme Court to hold
Hoskins in contempt for taking steps to use the new districts in November. The
court set a contempt hearing for Thursday.
State attorneys for Hoskins, meanwhile, want the federal judge to block the
contempt hearing. They contend Hoskins was merely following orders, arguing
that a federal court order -- based on the U.S. Constitution -- supersedes a
state order based on the state constitution.
Changing districts after a primary is unusual
After a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April weakened the federal Voting
Rights Act, Alabama lawmakers voted to change some of their congressional
districts. The high court allowed it to happen, even though voting had occurred
in a May primary. Alabama instead held a new primary for the revised districts
in August.
A similar scenario unfolded in Texas three decades ago. After Texas held its
1996 primaries, a federal court struck down several congressional districts.
The state subsequently held an open primary for those districts in the November
election, putting candidates from both parties on the same ballot. If no one
got a majority, the top two advanced to a runoff.
In Missouri's case, no court has suggested redoing the primary. Candidates
who won in August already have been certified for the November ballot according
to the number of the district that they won.
There is no clear-cut example for Missouri to follow
"Here in Missouri, we've witnessed a series of unprecedented actions, one
after another," said Travis Crum, a law professor at Washington University in
St. Louis, who specializes in election law.
Do voters have a right for congressional district boundaries to stay the
same from the primary to the general election? "That is a tough and complicated
legal question, and there is no definitive ruling from the Supreme Court that
one could point to for an answer," Crum said.
Candidates knew of the ongoing litigation when they signed up to seek office.
"The fact that the district lines changed, that was a chance that you take
when you run," said Michael Wolff, a former Missouri chief justice who later
served as dean of the Saint Louis University Law School.
Some voters are frustrated by Missouri's redistricting
Over the past year, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed over
Missouri's redistricting. Some voters have rallied against it at the state
Capitol and courthouses. Others have winced in confusion when listening to
explanations about which district they reside in.
Toby Thacker, who lives on a farm near Sedalia, has shifted from the 4th
District, currently held by Republican Rep. Mark Alford, to Cleaver's 5th
District under the new map. Thacker said he generally supports Republicans, who
redrew the map.
But "I'm not very happy with them for doing that," Thacker recently told The
Associated Press.
Cliff Keith, of Washington, Missouri, recently joined protesters outside the
Missouri Capitol.
"They have absolutely no business redrawing the districts right now, just
before an election," Keith said.
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