Declaring it is time for Florida to “modernize” it’s voting systems, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris King unveiled a policy statement Tuesday calling for universal voter registration and for voters to vote anywhere in their county.
Florida has more registered Democrats than Republicans, but the balance of power in government doesn’t even come close to reflecting that. Despite a 2010 constitutional amendment aimed at preventing political gerrymandering, Republicans dominate Florida politics. Democrats only hold 41 of 120 state House seats, 15 of 40 Senate seats and are outnumbered in in the U.S. House 16-11. While it would be easy to say Republicans built their power because they draw the political boundaries for Congress and the Legislature,…
Six years ago, Florida voters approved constitutional amendments with the catchy title of “Fair Districts” that promised to end the political games that surrounded drawing legislative and congressional districts. Due to expensive court battles and standoffs in the Florida Legislature, this year’s election will mark the first time the full effort to end gerrymandering will be in place. As Election Day nears, however, it’s becoming apparent that the changes have not caused any major disruptions politically. Republicans are expected to…
Staff from the Florida Senate and Auditor General’s office met Tuesday to assign random numbers to districts in the state’s new Senate District map. Here are the results, with the first number being the district number on the map as adopted by Circuit Judge George Reynolds; the second is the new randomly assigned district number. Same numbers means districts stay the same: 1-2 2-1 3-3 4-4 5-5 6-7 7-8 8-12 9-6 10-9 11-10 12-11 13-14 14-13 15-22 16-17 17-18 18-20 19-19 20-16…
The plaintiffs in the state Senate redistricting case have reshuffled their proposed maps to redraw the state’s 40 senatorial districts, saying they want to “narrow the issues for trial.” Part of their reason was the much-maligned “jumping the Bay,” or districts that cross the water from Hillsborough County into Pinellas County to capture a Democratic voting base in southeast Pinellas. On Tuesday, the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause and others withdrew two maps and submitted a new…
In the ongoing saga over state Senate redistricting, everything old is new again. The state Senate on Wednesday disclosed its proposed fix for its gerrymandered districts, a mash-up of two previous maps: One was passed by the Senate, another was drawn but not voted on in the recent Special Session. Because lawmakers couldn’t agree, it’s now up to Circuit Judge George Reynolds to recommend a map to the Florida Supreme Court for adoption. A trial is set for the week of Dec. 14.…
A long-running legal battle over Florida’s political landscape wound up back before the state Supreme Court on Tuesday where several justices sounded skeptical about the changes proposed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. The hope is that the court will soon end three years of lawsuits, court hearings and special sessions by finally endorsing a new map for the state’s 27 congressional districts ahead of the pivotal 2016 elections. But that map could also find itself under legal attack by current members…