The Supreme Court has rejected an effort to use a new congressional map in Missouri for the November midterm elections, and folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. The court’s decision is a loss for Republicans and President Donald Trump, who had urged Missouri to redraw its congressional maps last year as part of unusual mid-decade redistricting designed to retain GOP control of the House next year. I mean, you can’t blame them for trying, but it seems like the court is just not having it.
The court’s unsigned decision seemed likely to put to rest a whirlwind legal saga that has bounced through state and federal courts for much of September. The order was a loss for Republicans and President Donald Trump, who had urged Missouri to redraw its congressional maps last year. Bless their hearts, they thought they could get away with it.
There were no noted dissents, which is kind of surprising, given how contentious this whole thing has been. The court wrote, “Ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed. Absentee voting has already begun, as has military and overseas voting.” They’re basically saying, “Look, it’s too late to change things now, let’s just stick with what we’ve got.”
The opinion repeatedly cited a judicial doctrine known as the “Purcell principle,” which warns federal courts at all levels against making last-minute changes to voting rules. The court wrote, “The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started.” I guess that’s a nice way of saying, “Don’t rock the boat, folks.”
On Friday, however, the court handed the Trump administration a win in its push to use a controversial database to help state election officials identify non-citizens. Over the dissent of the three liberal justices, the court rejected arguments that the administration broke the law by making it easier for officials to use the data system to vet voters’ citizenship status. Somewhere in Atlanta, a producer thought this sounded terrifying, I’m sure.
Both sides seemed to agree that the legal whiplash had created confusion for Missouri voters, though the parties differed sharply on who was to blame. County election officials, meanwhile, told a federal appeals court more than a week ago that it was already too late then to switch back to the Republican-friendly map and warned federal courts against inflicting “additional vertigo on local election authorities.” I can imagine the election officials just throwing up their hands and saying, “Can we please just have a simple election for once?”
Missouri’s new map targeted the 5th Congressional District, held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, by breaking up its Kansas City base and stretching it into rural and Republican-leaning parts of the state. Under that new map, there would have been seven conservative-leaning districts and one Democratic-leaning, a change from the current 6-2 split. It’s all about gerrymandering, folks, and it’s getting old.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court’s decision is a significant blow to the Republicans’ efforts to gain an extra seat in the House of Representatives. The court’s invocation of the Purcell principle highlights the importance of avoiding last-minute changes to voting rules. And let’s be real, this whole saga has been a bit of a circus. As I finish my coffee, I’m left thinking, “Well, that was a wild ride, and I’m just glad it’s over – until the next election, that is!”
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
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