U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Alabama redistricting case could affect Florida's map

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Miami Herald via Yahoo News

A U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Alabama’s congressional districts map could have implications for Florida’s ongoing battle over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 redistricting plan.

The court’s 5-4 decision, which was released Thursday, affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Alabama violated the federal Voting Rights Act in drawing a map that had only one majority Black district in a state where more than 1 in 4 residents are Black. The ruling confirmed that race could be used when looking at redistricting.

Thursday’s decision could impact ongoing redistricting challenges under the Voting Rights Act in states like Louisiana and Georgia, experts say.

The legal situation with Florida’s congressional map is slightly different. The Supreme Court ruling isn’t a clear win for voting rights advocates challenging the Sunshine State’s map, say people who study redistricting, but is still likely unwelcome news for DeSantis as he pushes the idea that Florida maps should be drawn in a race-neutral way.

After DeSantis vetoed state legislators’ original map of congressional districts, the Legislature in 2022 approved a map proposed by the governor that more heavily favored Republicans and dismantled a North Florida congressional district previously held by a Black Democrat, Al Lawson.

Florida voting advocates said the state’s maps unfairly put Black voters and their candidates at a disadvantage. But unlike in Alabama, where plaintiffs said the maps violated the federal Voting Rights Act, a state lawsuit in Florida focuses on whether the maps violate the state Constitution’s Fair Districts Amendment. (A separate lawsuit brought by other voting rights groups challenging Florida’s maps in federal court also does not focus on the Voting Rights Act.)