Updated November 4, 2026 at 2:23 PM EST
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The next phase of the mid-decade congressional redistricting fight may be on its way.
Maryland voters have approved a constitutional amendment to change rules for congressional mapmaking, according to a race call by the Associated Press.
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The move makes it easier for Democratic state leaders to redraw districts ahead of the 2028 election, setting up a potential continuation of the partisan redistricting showdown that President Trump started last year. It's unclear if Maryland Democrats will take such a step.
In Missouri, voters have denied a Republican-backed congressional map that wound its way through the courts before ultimately ending up on the state's ballot. That's according to another race call by the Associated Press.
The vote means that, for now at least, Missouri is set to hold its 2028 congressional elections using the state's current map. Some Republican state leaders have raised the possibility of an attempt in 2027 or 2028 to redraw districts, which could be challenged through another ballot referendum.
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GOP lawmakers in Missouri had passed the now-rejected map last year to try to oust Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by redrawing his Kansas City district. The goal was to pick up an additional House seat for Republicans.
Missouri's top court ruled that the Republican-backed map could not be in effect for the midterms, and instead voters would get to decide on it. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that state court ruling.
Cleaver easily won reelection Tuesday, according to a race call by the Associated Press.
The push for new U.S. House district maps in Missouri and Maryland came amid a national mid-decade redistricting rush that was initiated by Trump to try to boost his party ahead of the midterm elections.
Many of those new lines, however, failed to stop sweeping victories by Democrats, including in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Texas.
Missouri and Maryland are not the only states deciding ballot measures relating to redistricting.
Colorado voters are weighing a constitutional amendment that would ban congressional maps that purposefully favor one political party. As of Wednesday morning, the results remain too close to call.
Republicans in at least one state are publicly backing down from the gerrymandering battle in the wake of the midterm elections.
In Georgia, outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday he will not call a special session of the state's currently Republican-controlled legislature to redraw maps after the AP called the governor's race for Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Democratic mayor of Atlanta.
"The voters of our state have spoken. As long as I'm governor, we will always respect the results of secure, accessible, and fair elections, and also abide by the laws and constitution of our state," Kemp said in a statement.
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