A coalition of civil rights groups this Friday filed the first lawsuit against the new ballot map drafted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the state congress on Thursday.
The new ballot measure, signed into law by Republican DeSantis today alongside several other bills, eliminates a district that connects several African American communities in the north of the state and is currently in the hands of Democrats.
The lawsuit, filed in a central Florida court in Leon County, alleges the map “tampers” and “violates” the “Fair Districts” amendment to the Florida Constitution by weakening voter power.
Therefore, plaintiffs, including groups Black Voters Matter, Florida Rising, League of Women Voters Florida and Equal Ground Florida, are asking this state court to rule against the measure and order the acceptance of a new convention ticket, he added.
This lawsuit comes just 24 hours after the Florida lower house of Congress, with a Republican majority, took the missing step to complete the parliamentary process of the new electoral map amid lively controversy.
The Florida Senate, also with a Republican majority, approved it this Wednesday, so all that was missing was the governor’s signature for the measure to go into effect.
The new map dismantles Florida’s 5th congressional district, currently represented by Democrat Al Lawson, and connects black communities from Tallahassee to Jacksonville.
African-American Democratic congressmen halted debate in the Florida House of Representatives with a protest and sit-in over the governor’s proposed map of Congress, according to images seen by local media.
According to the media above, the new approved card could help Florida Republicans win up to four more seats in the US House of Representatives in November’s election.
In late March, DeSantis announced that it would veto the redistribution proposal that the state congress was preparing for this year’s election.
The Republican then called a state Legislative Session later this month to redirect the issue of the districts that correspond to each of the congressmen representing Florida in the federal legislature beginning in the November midterm elections.
This process is conducted every ten years to adjust constituencies to the demographic changes noted in the states at the last census, and usually leads to legal action by those who feel harmed by the new map.