Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said Wednesday that she and other local election officials are in wait-and-see mode following conflicting signals about which maps the state will use in the November general election.
Speaking at a League of Women Voters event in Columbia, Lennon likened producing the right ballot to flipping a switch in the state's voter registration database.
"Every voter is tied to their congressional district pursuant to the 2025 maps," she said. "But that did not overwrite the congressional districts that we've had since 2022. So every voter, right now, is simultaneously tied to both of their districts."
The question of which congressional map Missourians will use to vote in November is currently in limbo.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a last-minute bid from Missouri Republicans to overrule a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that barred election officials from using a 2025 congressional map aimed at ousting Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II. That meant the 2022 map was in effect, per the state court.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary restraining order in a separate lawsuit involving two congressional candidates barring Secretary of State Denny Hoskins from using anything of than the 2025 map for the November election.
Hoskins then told local officials that they had to use the 2025 map, and proponents of an effort to repeal the 2025 map have asked the Missouri Supreme Court to hold Hoskins in contempt, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
Efforts to redraw the congressional map have been contentious. Republican lawmakers last year pushed the new map, which splits Kansas City into three more conservative-leaning districts in an attempt to oust Cleaver.
Election officials with Jackson County and Kansas City did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how they are handling the conflicting court orders.
Clay County election officials said Wednesday that their board and attorneys are still monitoring the latest court proceedings. Once they have clear and final guidance, they said in an email, they will move forward with tailoring ballots for the county.
Lennon said if the issue is not resolved by the beginning of early voting, voters could receive a ballot that's still in flux. If any of those voters are later placed in a different district, some of their tallies could become invalid. Lennon said there would be no recourse in those cases, as state law doesn't allow someone to vote twice.
As Hoskins prepares to answer the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday morning, Lennon said Hoskins' rebuke for telling election officials not to follow the high court's order to use the 2022 congressional map in this year's elections sends a clear message.
"It is a pretty big signifier that if I, as a local election official, were to verbally announce that I was going to use the new maps, I would be in contempt of the Supreme Court of Missouri," she said.
Lennon said she's hopeful that, with a few weeks to go before voting begins, there's still time to resolve the question of which maps to abide by.
KCUR's Noah Taborda and Emily Younker contributed to this report.
