A lawsuit has been filed over the new congressional maps signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday.
Democrat voters and a voting rights group filed the lawsuit challenging the map that could give Republicans up to four additional seats, the Washington Examiner reported.
The suit was filed in Florida's Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit by the National Redistricting Foundation and the Elias Law Group on behalf of the Equal Ground Education Fund and dozens of Democrat voters, soon after DeSantis signed the map into law, following overwhelming approval by both houses of Florida's Legislature.
The plaintiffs argue the map violates the state's Fair Districts Amendment, which prohibits gerrymandering.
"Florida made no efforts to amend its constitution when it sought to join the partisan wars and conduct a mid-decade redistricting for partisan gain," the complaint, obtained by the Examiner, reads. "Florida's constitution continues to expressly prohibit partisan gerrymandering — a constraint the Legislature chose to ignore."
DeSantis says the state has the right to redraw its map after the Supreme Court narrowed a section of the Voting Rights Act that required some states to create majority-minority districts.
"The decision implicates a district in FL — the legal infirmities of which have been corrected in the newly drawn (and soon to be enacted) map," DeSantis wrote on social media last week.
Florida's federal delegation includes 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with one Democrat-leaning seat vacant since the resignation of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick earlier this month.
The proposed map would eliminate or shrink Democrat-leaning districts in Tampa, Orlando, and parts of the state's southeast coast.
At least one district redrawn under the proposal had been a majority-Hispanic district in central Florida.
Florida's new map comes after Texas revamped its congressional maps to possibly give Republicans five extra seats, while states such as Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have redrawn their maps to be more favorable to Republicans.
Special elections in Virginia and California to redraw their congressional maps to be more favorable to Democrats could mean the redistricting wars will end in a draw.
Indiana, Kansas, and Maryland all declined to redraw their maps.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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