Florida Redistricting

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments about the constitutionality of a congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature in 2023, with Chief Justice Carlos Muniz pointing to potentially far-reaching future effects of the court's decision.

Voting rights groups challenging the state congressional map want the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate a district that gave Black voters in one region the chance to elect their preferred candidate.

Attorneys for the Florida House and Secretary of State Cord Byrd disputed allegations that the Legislature violated equal-protection rights in the way it drew districts that would elect Hispanic candidates.

Attorneys for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and Secretary of State Cord Byrd filed answers to a lawsuit that alleges the districts were gerrymandered and violate constitutional equal-protection rights.

They say the legislature wrongly assumed that South Florida's Hispanic voters are cohesive when that's no longer the case since the white majority in Florida regularly votes in coalition with the Hispanic voters.

A three-judge panel Tuesday refused to toss out a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2022 Florida Senate redistricting plan, pointing to plaintiffs' arguments that two districts in the Tampa Bay area were racially gerrymandered.

Voting-rights groups urged an appeals court to reject an attempt by the state House and Senate to shield lawmakers and legislative staff members from testifying in redistricting lawsuits.

Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration urged the state Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of a congressional redistricting plan that DeSantis pushed through the Legislature in 2022, saying it properly prevented a racially gerrymandered North Florida district.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd is disputing allegations that the design of two districts in the Tampa Bay area diluted the power of Black voters.

Voting-rights groups want a federal court to reconsider a ruling that upheld the constitutionality of a Florida congressional redistricting plan, pointing to the “outsized” role that Gov. Ron DeSantis played in pushing the plan through the Legislature.

The redrawn districts in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties were approved by legislators in 2022 and used in the election that November. They are being challenged by five residents.

A federal three-judge panel has upheld Florida’s congressional map after finding no constitutional problems with the state’s removal of an African-American performing district in the Big Bend, but the broader legal fight isn't over.