A Florida circuit court judge has blocked the state’s congressional redistricting plan drawn by Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration that would likely eliminate two of the state’s four districts represented by Black Democrats and create four more districts that lean Republican.
Judge Layne Smith, who issued a ruling from the bench on 11 May, said the map violates the state’s constitutional provisions governing the redistricting process because it “diminishes African Americans’ ability to elect candidates of their choice” in Florida’s 5th District, which spans Jacksonville to Tallahassee.
