redistricting

Objecting to an attempt to speed up the case, attorneys for the state argued Friday "there is no reasonable likelihood" the Florida Supreme Court will rule in a congressional redistricting battle in time for the 2024 elections.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled in favor of the state, concluding that plaintiffs had not met a legal test for showing that the changes in Florida's elections law “unduly burden” First Amendment and equal-protection rights.

The Florida Supreme Court agreed to take up a challenge to the constitutionality of a congressional redistricting plan, but it appears the case will not be resolved before a candidate-qualifying deadline for the November elections.

The case, which is expected to go to the Florida Supreme Court, centers on an overhaul of North Florida’s Congressional District 5, which in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson. Voting-rights groups and other plaintiffs argue that the overhaul violated part of the constitutional amendment, known as the Fair Districts Amendment, that barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”

Saying a congressional redistricting plan approved last year by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis abolished a “race-based electoral monopoly,” attorneys for the state argued that an appeals court should overturn a circuit judge’s ruling that the plan violates the Florida Constitution.

A federal trial over Florida’s congressional map could wrap up this week after attorneys for civil rights groups and voters suing over North Florida’s districts rested their case on Monday.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Florida’s new congressional map have launched a statewide tour aimed at educating Black voters about changes to the state's U.S. House district lines.

On Election Day, Aug. 23, WLRN reporters visited precincts across South Florida to check in with voters, many of whom had ended up at the wrong polling places.

A state judge has sided with civil rights groups seeking a redrawing of North Florida’s congressional districts ahead of the midterm elections. Judge Layne Smith of the state’s 2nd Judicial

After issuing a temporary injunction last week against a congressional redistricting plan pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Leon County circuit judge Monday ordered that the ruling remain in effect while the state pursues an appeal.

He agreed with voting-rights groups that said the changes to a North Florida congressional district would eliminate the ability of Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice.

Attorneys for Secretary of State Laurel Lee fired back Monday at an attempt to block a new congressional redistricting plan, saying plaintiffs in a lawsuit want to “revert to some racially gerrymandered” map that would stretch a district across a swath of North Florida to elect a Democrat.