The U.S. Supreme Court for a 2nd time in a month said a state must boost the number of minority seats.


Florida’s hopes that the U.S. Supreme Court will validate a congressional map halving the state’s Black-controlled districts just took a blow.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Louisiana must redraw its congressional map because it lacks minority representation. The decision follows a similar ruling regarding a map in Alabama. In both cases, the states must remake congressional maps with one more minority seat.

Minority advocates legally challenging Florida’s congressional map have argued the cartography, drawn by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ staff and approved by the Florida Legislature, diminishes Black voting power in Florida.

Justices in the Alabama and Louisiana decisions agreed with arguments that state officials violated protections in the Voting Rights Act for minority voting access. Challenges to Florida’s map argue the same and also say that Florida voters imposed additional protections through the Fair Districts amendment, approved in 2010, that prohibited lawmakers from denying racial and language minorities the opportunity to elect a Representative of their choice.

The Florida congressional map reduced the number of minority-controlled seats from four to two.

DeSantis vetoed congressional maps approved by the Florida Legislature, criticizing the preservation of a North Florida congressional district. Created by the Florida Supreme Court, that district spanned from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, allowing Black voters to determine the election winner.