Redistricting amendment from 2010 sparks Constitutional standoff with Gov. DeSantis

When Florida voters in 2010 passed a constitutional amendment setting rules for congressional redistricting, they barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”

Now, more than a decade later, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the Legislature are trying to fend off a lawsuit by arguing the U.S. Constitution trumps that part of the state amendment.

A Leon County circuit judge will hold a hearing next week on whether attorneys for Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the Legislature should be able to make the argument in a lawsuit challenging a redistricting plan that DeSantis pushed through last year.

The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of voting-rights groups and individual plaintiffs, focuses heavily on Congressional District 5, which in the past sprawled across North Florida and helped elect Black Democrat Al Lawson. But under the DeSantis-backed plan that lawmakers passed in April 2022, the district was dramatically redrawn — ultimately leading to white Republicans winning all North Florida congressional seats in November.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/redistricting-amendment-2010-sparks-constitutional-195531400.html