What We Know About the Missouri Map Supreme Court Rejected

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Missouri's Republican-drawn congressional map for the third time, according to a live blog from The Guardian that tracked the ruling on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. The decision lands in the middle of Missouri's 2026 midterm election cycle, with absentee voting already underway in the state, the Guardian reported.

Here is what is confirmed so far, and what remains unclear.

What did the Supreme Court do to Missouri's map?

According to the Guardian's live coverage, the justices rejected the Republican-drawn map for a third time. The Guardian described the case as part of a "long-running fight over Trump-backed maps." The live blog entry logging the ruling was posted roughly 14 hours before the blog closed for the day at 9:59 p.m. EDT, meaning the ruling came down earlier Friday afternoon. The Guardian's report does not detail the court's written reasoning or vote count, and no opinion text was included in the dispatch reviewed for this story.

Why is this the third rejection?

The Guardian's live blog identifies this as the third time the court has turned back the Missouri map but does not lay out what happened in the first two rounds within the passage covered here. Readers looking for the full procedural history of the earlier rejections should consult the Guardian's ongoing live coverage, linked below, for updates as the paper adds detail throughout the day.

How does this affect people already voting absentee?

The timing is the sharpest practical issue. The Guardian noted that "absentee voting is already under way in Missouri" when the ruling came down. That raises the immediate question of which map, if any, will govern ballots already cast or in the mail. The source material reviewed here does not specify whether election officials have issued guidance to voters or candidates in response, so that remains an open question for state election authorities to answer in the coming days.

Who has been protesting the redistricting plan?

A photograph accompanying the Guardian's live blog shows people protesting the redistricting plan inside the Missouri state capitol building in Jefferson City on Sept. 10, 2025, roughly a year before this week's ruling. The image is credited to Michael Thomas/Getty Images. The Guardian's text does not identify the protesters by name or organization beyond describing the scene.

What else is happening at the Supreme Court this week?

The same live blog reported a separate action: the court allowed the Trump administration to use a revamped federal voter eligibility database "for now," a distinct ruling from the Missouri map decision. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was also reported to have criticized the court's handling of its emergency docket, though the Guardian's coverage does not tie that criticism specifically to the Missouri case.

What is confirmed

• Number of times the Missouri map has been rejected: three, per the Guardian's live blog.
• Protest photo date: Sept. 10, 2025, Jefferson City, Missouri.
• Guardian live blog closing time: 9:59 p.m. EDT, Sept. 25, 2026.

For the fullest, most current account, including any updates on what map Missouri will use going forward, see The Guardian's live blog.