Missouri Supreme Court Rules on Congressional Map, Voter ID, and Registration Law Cases

Jefferson City, Mo. (KFMO) - The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled on three major election-related cases involving Congressional redistricting, voter identification, and voter registration laws.

In one of the most closely watched decisions, the high court ruled 4-3 to uphold Missouri’s newly drawn Congressional districts. The ruling affirms a lower court’s decision that the Missouri Legislature acted within its constitutional authority when it approved a new Congressional map during a special session last September.

The challenge was brought by a group called People Not Politicians, which argued lawmakers should only be allowed to redraw district lines once every ten years. However, the Supreme Court said the Missouri Constitution does not explicitly limit lawmakers to a single redistricting action per decade.

Republican lawmakers approved the new map in hopes of strengthening GOP representation in Congress following the November election. The revised map is designed to make seven of Missouri’s Congressional districts more favorable to Republican candidates, including the Kansas City-area district currently represented by longtime Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.

In a second decision, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the state’s voter ID law. The court agreed with a lower court ruling that the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP did not prove the law’s photo identification requirement would unlawfully interfere with the right to vote.

That voter ID requirement was part of a broader elections bill passed by the Missouri Legislature in 2022. In addition to requiring a valid photo ID to vote, the law also established two weeks of no-excuse in-person early voting before Election Day.

In a third major ruling, the Supreme Court sided 4-3 with a lower court decision that found a separate voter registration law unconstitutional.

That case centered on House Bill 1878, which was challenged by the League of Women Voters of Missouri and the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP. The law included several restrictions on voter registration efforts, including banning people from being paid to solicit voter registration applications, requiring those assisting with registration to be Missouri voters and at least 18 years old, and prohibiting the solicitation of absentee ballot applications.

The rulings are expected to have a significant impact on Missouri elections moving forward as the state prepares for the upcoming election cycle.