redistricting

Texas Democrats aim to prevent the Republican-controlled government from enacting a mid-decade gerrymander that would give Republicans several more seats in Congress.

Jessica Lowe-Minor, the president of the League of Women Voters of Florida is warning state legislators not to embark on a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan, saying it's unprecedented and goes against the 2010 “Fair Districts” constitutional amendment.

The Miami Republican’s announcement came as Texas Republicans have moved forward with a controversial mid-decade redistricting plan and as the White House has pressured other GOP-controlled states, including Florida, Missouri and South Carolina, to follow suit.

The Florida governor raised the possibility of further redistricting Thursday as Texas Republicans look to redraw districts amid a push by the Trump administration to help the GOP keep its slim control of the U.S. House.

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.