Jason Rosenbaum

Missouri lawmakers passed a map last year that seeks to convert Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based district into a GOP-leaning seat.

But two voters sued, contending that the submission of referendum signatures prevented that map from going into effect.

But the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the new map is in effect until Missouri's Secretary of State verifies it has enough signatures.

That might not happen until a few days before the state's primary, and that may be too late into the election process to switch to a map that's more favorable to Cleaver.

The court's decision comes as states like Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee are eliminating heavily Democratic majority-minority seats, thanks to the U.S.

Supreme Court's decision weakening the Voting Rights Act.

For NPR News, I'm Jason Rosenbaum in Jefferson City.

Missouri lawmakers passed a map last year that seeks to convert Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based district into a GOP-leaning seat.

But two voters sued, contending that the submission of referendum signatures prevented that map from going into effect.

But the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the new map is in effect until Missouri's Secretary of State verifies it has enough signatures.

That might not happen until a few days before the state's primary, and that may be too late into the election process to switch to a map that's more favorable to Cleaver.

The court's decision comes as states like Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee are eliminating heavily Democratic majority-minority seats, thanks to the U.S.

Supreme Court's decision weakening the Voting Rights Act.

For NPR News, I'm Jason Rosenbaum in Jefferson City.

The court ruled 6-3 that a congressional map that gave Louisiana a second black majority district was unconstitutional.

Eddie Grime is a Kansas City-based attorney who successfully argued that case to the high court.

He says the decision lays the groundwork to either legally challenge minority-majority districts or for state legislatures to get rid of them.

The Supreme Court's decision could make it easier for Southern states to convert Democratic-leaning congressional districts with majority Black populations into whiter, more Republican-leaning seats.

For NPR News, I'm Jason Rosenbaum in St.

Louis.