Every 10 years, Floridian lawmakers must redraw their congressional and legislative districts in response to population changes identified by the decennial census.
After collecting 1.7 million signatures, advocates of changing the redistricting process, FairDistrictsFlorida, have succeed in putting two proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot in November. The first of these, Amendment 5, would require that, “Legislative districts or districting plans…not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.” Similarly, Amendment 6 states that, “Congressional districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.”
In response to these amendments, Republican leadership in the State Legislature has proposed an alternative amendment, which will be Amendment 7. Amendment 7 would require the state to “apply federal requirements and balance and implement the standards in the State Constitution. The state shall take into consideration the ability of racial and language minorities to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice, and communities of common interest other than political parties may be respected and promoted, both without subordination to any other provision of Article III of the State Constitution.”
Some believe, as reported by Fred Grimm of the Miami Herald, that Amendments 4 and 5 “would repaint Picasso districts into compact, contiguous sane shapes and outlaw districts created to favor or harm political parties. And it would limit the outsized influence of Florida's political extremes.” Meanwhile, Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald quotes Senator Mike Haridopolos defending amendment 7 as preventing the loss of “minority representation and mak[ing] sure that communities of interest are preserved when the districts are redrawn,” something he maintains the FairDistricts amendments would fail to accomplish. The arguments made by both sides of this battle highlight the considerations that will dominate the upcoming redistricting cycle.
