TALLAHASSEE Fla. (Reuters) - Florida
lawmakers will reconvene on Thursday in a hastily called special
legislative session to redraw congressional maps that a judge has found
unconstitutional, a ruling that raises the possibility of election
delays in upcoming midterm races.
Republican legislative leaders said they planned to alter as few
of the state's 27 U.S. congressional districts as possible in
reconfiguring the boundaries for the two districts that the judge
invalidated.
"We ought to adjust the lines and cure the flaws in Districts 5 and
10 with as little chaos and confusion elsewhere in the state as
possible,” said Republican Senate President Don Gaetz.
The boundaries of the districts, represented by north Florida
Democrat Corrine Brown and Orlando-area Republican Daniel Webster,
were rejected by a judge who found Gaetz and other Republican
leaders had improperly rigged the maps to protect the party's
majority in Washington.
Last week, Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis gave lawmakers an Aug. 15
deadline to submit new maps. He plans to hear arguments the
following week on whether to delay the affected elections.
Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford decided against appealing
the July 10 ruling, which found the Republican leaders “made a
mockery” of a voter-approved mandate that prohibited legislators
from protecting incumbents.
With absentee ballots already mailed for the Aug. 26 primaries,
Republican leaders had argued that any changes should be delayed
until after the November general elections.
Now they will preside over a special session expected to run through
the weekend, with approval of the maps expected early next week.
The main focus will be Brown's snake-shaped district, which could
affect some half-dozen congressional boundaries as it winds from
northeastern Florida to the center of the state.
“We want constitutional maps, maps that fully comply with the
requirements laid out by Judge Lewis in his ruling,” said Deirdre
Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, which
led the lawsuit invalidating the maps.
Republicans are eager to fix the unconstitutional districts and go
home, said Democratic state Representative Perry Thurston, the House
minority leader.
Democrats, in the minority in both chambers, have little power to
stop them, he said. But they will press for an explanation of what
went wrong in the 2012 redistricting.
“They had a concerted, secretive, alternative method that violated
the Constitution,” Thurston said.
(Reporting by Bill Cotterell; Editing by Letitia Stein and Eric
Beech)
