Missouri’s voting maps saga reaches supreme court after conflicting rulings

Appeal against federal panel’s approval of Trump-backed maps is latest move in legal back-and-forth spanning four courts

A high-stakes legal battle over Missouri’s congressional map returned on Wednesday to the US supreme court, after a series of conflicting decisions threw the state’s elections into turmoil less than two months before the November midterm elections.

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court panel declined to block a ruling ordering Missouri to use the newly drawn congressional lines backed by Donald Trump to give Republicans an edge in the midterms elections. Opponents of the state’s redistricted map immediately filed an appeal to the US supreme court.