MIAMI (AP) — Progressive citizen groups have challenged the way in which 4 South Florida congressional districts and 7 state House districts were drawn by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature, alleging racial gerrymandering of the seats in favor of Hispanics, whose ethnic diversity in Florida is simply too diverse to be considered a protected minority.
The groups filed suit Thursday claiming the districts are unconstitutional and asking a federal court in South Florida to dam their use in elections. The Florida House of Representatives and Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd were named as defendants.
A message in search of comment was left on the Secretary of State's office on Saturday.
Under federal and state law, race might be taken under consideration in redistricting to guard minority voters, provided the minority group is unified and the bulk white voters achieve stopping the minority group from voting for his or her preferred candidates.
However, the Florida State Legislature wrongly assumed that Hispanic voters in South Florida were unified. However, this is not any longer the case, because the white majority in Florida usually votes in coalition with Hispanic voters in South Florida, the lawsuit states.
“Rather, it is nuanced, complex and diverse in terms of political behavior and preferences,” the lawsuit says of the Hispanic community in South Florida. “The legislature was not entitled to draw race-based constituencies based on uninformed assumptions of racial equality.”
Instead, real minority communities with interests in town of Miami and Collier County, where Naples is situated, were split up within the districting process, the lawsuit says.
More than two-thirds of the residents of Miami-Dade County – where the districts affected by the lawsuit are concentrated – are Hispanic.
“In drawing these districts, the Florida State Legislature subordinated traditional redistricting criteria and the requirements of the state constitution to race without establishing district boundaries in a manner that would serve a compelling governmental interest,” the lawsuit states.
All districts are currently represented by Republicans.
In their current form, the districts violate the fundamental principles of fine district division. These include that the communities remain intact, the districts are compact and don’t expand too far into different parts of town, the lawsuit states.
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