US appeals court upholds Florida congressional map, reversing lower court ruling
Misty Severi
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The 1st U.S. District Court of Appeals upheld Florida’s congressional map on Friday, reversing a prior court’s ruling over concerns that the map violated racial representation requirements as outlined in Florida law.
The previous ruling claimed that the congressional map reduces the ability of black voters to pick a representative in northern Florida. However, the appeals court determined the ruling had placed a “racial segregation mandate” into the Florida Constitution that did not exist.
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“The constitution cannot demand that all voters are treated equally without regard to race and at the same time demand that voters are treated differently based on race,” the ruling said. “The districts cannot be drawn to diminish an individual racial-minority-voter’s ability to elect a representative of choice as compared to an individual non-racial minority-voter. This is ultimately accomplished by ensuring all voters are treated equally without regard to race.”
The new set of maps was proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in January 2022, facing legal challenges based on the Fair Districts amendments. Plaintiffs said the governor and Florida Republicans drew the lines to reduce the voting power of black voters in Jacksonville by splitting the city between multiple districts.
The contested map was passed by the Florida legislature in April 2022 after DeSantis had vetoed a previous map that included a form of the former black majority district in the northern part of the state. The map championed by DeSantis saw the GOP go from a 16-11 advantage to the current 20-8 advantage. If a form of the black majority district is mandated in a new map by a court, it would likely net Democrats at least one seat.
Genesis Robinson, a plaintiff in the case, denounced the decision Friday, claiming the ruling sets a “dangerous precedent” for voting rights in the state.
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“From the very beginning, Gov. DeSantis has been using the voting rights of Black Floridians as pawns in his game of political ambition,” Robinson said in a statement. “When voters overwhelmingly passed the Fair District Amendments in 2010, this was the very type of political corruption and partisan favoritism they sought to rid from our state.”
Robinson added that the plaintiffs will be appealing the ruling to the state Supreme Court.