Florida Redistricting

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.

Alleging an "egregious misreading of Florida's Constitution," voting-rights groups late Wednesday argued the state Supreme Court should overturn a decision that upheld a congressional redistricting plan pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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.

The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday 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.

Voting-rights groups and others asked the court to take up the case, which centers on a North Florida district that in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson but was overhauled during an April 2022 special legislative session.

Attorneys for plaintiffs filed a brief seeking a reversal of an appeal that upheld the plan, which the legislature passed in 2022.

An appeals court upheld the map, which plaintiffs say violated part of the constitutional amendment that barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”

An appeals court has ruled that the Florida Legislature didn’t violate the state constitution when it approved congressional maps pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year.

Plaintiffs argue that the overhaul of North Florida’s Congressional District 5 violated part of the constitutional amendment that barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”

Attorneys for voting rights groups and the state will present arguments over the constitutionality of Florida's congressional map before the state's First District Court of Appeal.

Voting-rights groups have asked an appeals court to uphold a ruling that a congressional redistricting plan backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the Florida Constitution.