**The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily halted Missouri’s contested congressional map, ensuring the disputed boundaries will not determine the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.**

Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued the temporary stay, which keeps the map blocked while the full Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case later this year.

The ruling halts a map drawn by state Republicans to eliminate a Democratic district in Kansas City. The changes followed a push for new maps to influence the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In response, voting rights groups organized under the banner "People Not Politicians" gathered signatures to put the redistricting plan to a public vote. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in favor of the referendum, determining that the redrawn map was not valid under state law and ordering officials to place the measure on the November ballot.

A separate legal battle unfolded in federal court when a district judge ruled that changing district boundaries between the primary and general elections violated the Constitution. That ruling required the state to use the gerrymandered map for the upcoming election, creating a conflict between state and federal court orders that left local election officials facing contradictory mandates.

After lower federal courts declined to block the federal ruling, voting advocates appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With the Supreme Court's intervention, the disputed map is on hold, and Missouri voters will decide the matter directly through a ballot referendum this fall.

Supreme Court Blocks Missouri Redistricting Map Ahead of Midterms