Missouri Supreme Court Rules Senate District Map Is Constitutional

A state Senate district map drawn by a judicial commission in Missouri has been ruled constitutional by the state’s Supreme Court on Feb. 14, bringing an end to a lawsuit that has divided Republican lawmakers into two camps. In its 5-2 decision (pdf), the state’s top court rejected a legal challenge to the redistricting plan brought by voters in July 2022 contending that mapmakers should have placed a greater emphasis on preserving communities. The legal challenge argued that Senate districts in suburban St. Louis and western Missouri’s Buchanan County violate the state constitution by needlessly splitting cities or counties into multiple districts....