The Missouri redistricting fight just took another dramatic turn — and this time, the U.S. Supreme Court has stepped in.

The Supreme Court granted an application for a stay sought by supporters of Missouri’s referendum, temporarily blocking the lower federal court’s injunction that had thrown the state’s congressional map into uncertainty.

That decision came just minutes before Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was scheduled to appear before the Missouri Supreme Court to explain why he should not be held in contempt.

The clash centers on which congressional map Missouri should use in the November elections.

Hoskins had directed local election officials to proceed with the newly drawn 7-1 map, following a federal temporary restraining order. But that put him at odds with an earlier order from the Missouri Supreme Court, which had directed the state to use the existing 6-2 map.

Now, the legal ground has shifted again.

With the U.S. Supreme Court’s stay in place, the federal temporary restraining order is no longer controlling for the moment. That puts Missouri’s old 6-2 congressional map back on track for the November election.

For Republicans, that is a significant setback to the new 7-1 map.

But anyone declaring the matter finished would be getting ahead of the courts. Missouri’s redistricting battle has already produced a dizzying series of orders, appeals and legal maneuvers, and there is little reason to assume the final chapter has been written.

What is clear is that the Supreme Court has now intervened at a critical moment, preventing the lower court’s order from continuing to dictate Missouri’s election map.

And that matters because election rules cannot be treated like a revolving door. Voters, candidates and election officials need to know which rules actually govern an election — and they need that answer before ballots are cast, not after.

For now, Missouri goes back to the 6-2 map.

The 7-1 map is on hold.

And the fight over who ultimately gets to decide Missouri’s congressional boundaries is far from over.