Resource: Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Inst., Inc. v. Byrd

On April 22, 2022, a coalition of civil and voting rights organizations and Florida voters filed a lawsuit against Florida's Secretary of State, Attorney General, Senate, House of Representatives, and legislative leaders challenging the state's congressional redistricting plan as violating various provisions of the Florida Constitution's Fair Districts Amendment (art. III, Section 20). First, they assert the plan violates the non-diminishment standard because it results in the diminishment of Black voters' ability to elect their candidates of choice, citing the changes made to Congressional District 5. Second, they assert the plan was intended to abridge or diminish minority voting strength by targeting minority populations in North Florida, Tampa Bay, and Central Florida to draw them out of "minority-opportunity" districts. Third, they allege the plan was drawn with an intent to favor the Republican Party and disfavor the Democratic Party, specifically citing the configuration of Congressional Districts 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 26, and 27. Fourth, they claim the plan contains districts which fail to comply with the compactness criterion, specifically Congressional Districts 7, 13, and 14. Finally, they assert several districts within the plan, namely Congressional Districts 4, 5, 13, and 14, fail to use political and geographic boundaries where feasible. They are seeking a judicial declaration that the plan and/or individual districts within the plan violate the Florida Constitution, an injunction barring the defendants from using or implementing the plan in future elections, and a court order requiring the state to adopt or otherwise adopting a new, constitutionally compliant plan.