A judge in Florida ruled on Thursday that two voting districts must be redrawn to accommodate state law, finding that they were so gerrymandered that they made a mockery of the state’s new law.
Florida voters passed a law in 2010 requiring that districts be drawn without any partisan advantage, and as the Tampa Bay Times reports: “In a 41-page ruling, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis said that two of the state’s 27 districts are invalid and must be redrawn, along with any other districts affected by them, to bring the map into compliance with the state’s new Fair District amendments.”
Lewis wrote in the opinion:
Republican political consultants or operatives did in fact conspire to manipulate and influence the redistricting process. They made a mockery of the Legislature’s proclaimed transparency and open process of redistricting by doing all of this in the shadow of that process, utilizing the access it gave them to the decision makers, but going to great lengths to conceal from the public their plan and their participation in it.” [emphasis added]
Lewis ruled that the 5th district, running from Jacksonville to Orlando was drawn up specifically to put as many Democratic voters there as possible to help the Republican’s chances of winning in all six districts bordering the 5th district. (All six of those districts are currently represented by Republicans.)
Worse yet, the second district to be redrawn, the 10th, was drawn up according to state law, but was later modified to add “an odd-shaped appendage which wraps under and around District 5” to gain unfair advantage for Republicans.
As UPI reports: “Republicans hold 17 of the state’s congressional seats, compared to Democrats’ 10, despite the Democrats having an overall registration advantage,” adding that
Democrats are expected to pick up seats in 2014, but depending on the appeal and how the districts are eventually redrawn, the decision may not have much of an effect on this year’s election outcome. But in 2016, and after the next census in 2020, the shift could be permanent and profound.”
The state of Florida is expected to appeal the decision to the State Supreme Court.
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