Final Order Issued In Congressional Redistricting
MIAMI (CBSMiami/NSF) - A Leon County judge has ordered the state to use a map of congressional districts drawn by a coalition of voting-rights groups during the next three elections.
The brief final judgment, written by Circuit Judge Terry Lewis, was a formality; Lewis had already recommended the coalition's proposal to the Florida Supreme Court, which supported his ruling.
"Plan CP-1 shall be utilized in the 2016 Florida congressional elections and in Florida congressional elections thereafter until the next decennial redistricting," Lewis wrote.
The original draft of the congressional map --- drawn by the Legislature in 2012 and tweaked in 2014 --- was struck down by the Supreme Court in July for violating a voter-approved ban on political gerrymandering.
Lawmakers will try again in 2022, two years after the U.S. Census.