Hours after hearing three lawsuits challenging Missouri’s Congressional redistricting decisions, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the legislature’s new voting boundaries.
The high court heard three lawsuits Tuesday that argued the 2025 Congressional districts are not compact, like the law requires. The other one attempted to suspend the new map, pending voter approval.
Back in March, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling saying the legislature had the authority to draw the new map mid-decade.
Protesters from across the state made a trip to Jefferson City Tuesday to rally against the newly-crafted blueprint. Bishop Earnest Jefferson, who came from Kansas City, said voters still have a voice.
“Voting does matter,” Jefferson told Missourinet. “The value of our vote still does count.”
He has been a civil rights activist for the past 50 years.
“Everything that I’ve fought for 50 years, those rights have been diminished because of the ruling of the Supreme Court. So now we’re back at ground zero and the fight has started all over again. The struggle continues. It rejuvenates me,” Jefferson said.
Dianne Marshak, who came from St. Louis, said the protest is her first time getting involved in politics to this extent.
“Just the way our politics have been going over the few years, the last few years, I feel like I need to get more involved. It’s just, it’s not for the people anymore. And I feel that we have to speak up to change things,” Marshak told Missourinet.
Missouri Republicans passed the new map in 2025 at the urging of President Donald Trump. The boundaries are drawn in an effort to give them another seat in Congress. Gov. Mike Kehoe said the updated boundaries better reflect Missourians.
Copyright © 2026 · Missourinet