A Florida judge on Saturday struck down congressional district lines for northern Florida advocated by Gov. Ron DeSantis, ruling that the Republican governor’s map had improperly diluted Black voting power.
Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh concluded that the congressional boundaries – which essentially dismantled the seat once held by Al Lawson, a Black Democrat – violated the state’s constitution, which protects minority-access districts.
Marsh’s order blocks the state from using the map in congressional elections and orders the legislature to draw a new one. The DeSantis administration is expected to quickly appeal the case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.
Definitely a step in the right direction. Gerrymandering is already insane. Racist gerrymandering is insane and exhausting.
Except they will just keep putting up illegal maps and eventually will have to use said illegal map just like Ohio had to.
What an utterly defeatist attitude.
Then do something to stop it. Vote. Campaign for other candidates. Help organize. Help fundraise. There are things that can be done to stop this. Saying “they’re just going to do x” doesn’t help anyone except them.
How would any of that help when the maps are what determines the vote and the maps are stacked?
There are far more elections than you’re giving credit to. Those elections can make a major difference down the line. Something like judges and sheriffs. As frustrating as it is that the system is broken, the answer isn’t to give up and do nothing. It isn’t to be defeatist. It’s to do the bare minimum that you can do (which is voting) to at least attempt to change it. Otherwise you’re just becoming part of the muck keeping everyone else in place.
Except the judges are already saying this is wrong… No one said anything about giving up but the reality is what can you actually do about THIS situation?
What is it with you sheltered middle class assholes always blaming the victims and assuming everyone outside your privileged little bubble has the time and money to spend on political activism?
Yes. I, the dude who cannot afford both groceries and a video game, am clearly ‘sheltered middle class’.
I’m a disabled dude. I can’t afford money either but I can give the time. Is it difficult? Yeah. Does it matter? Yeah. I’ve got this thing where I believe that helping people is worth taking into consideration instead of just discarding it completely. Moreover, you seem to have a very narrow understanding of what political activisim means if you think it takes a lot of time or effort. There are small things you can do too. Stuff that will make a difference. Stuff like sending in a letter to voice your concerns/intentions on who to vote for. Stuff like helping give your services to a candidate if they can be of any use. Can be as little as an hour a week helping to set up chairs at a campaign event or even just talking with friends and family.
But thanks for attacking me and calling me an asshole while you have no understanding about me. Thanks for making assumptions about me. Thanks for filling in the gaps because you couldn’t be bothered to even ask a simple question before you opened into hostility. I’d suggest you reflect on that behavior. I wish you the best but I’m not going to bother engaging with you when you’re going to come at me with that energy from the get-go.
Take care.
Looking at their username: if this is how a regular goose behaves, imagine how an asshole goose must be to deal with.
Stupid jokes aside, great reaction. Voting matters. Democracy isn’t a show. Is it deeply flawed at the moment? Yes. Should we give up on it? Absolutely never.
Not new tho
Republicans will never stop trying to steal elections
Legalize weed and clear up jail cells for enemies of democracy. We must start enforcing real consequences for regressive america haters.
Arm the Drag Queens and Librarians
I believe that DeSantis rejected the original legislative map, and issued his own. This is the one rejected by the judge, as so many of his laws have been.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh concluded that the congressional boundaries – which essentially dismantled the seat once held by Al Lawson, a Black Democrat – violated the state’s constitution, which protects minority-access districts.
The eventual outcome in Florida – and other litigation pending in states such as Alabama and Georgia – could play a significant role in which party controls the US House of Representatives after next year’s congressional elections.
Voting and civil rights groups that brought the challenge hailed the decision Saturday as a rebuff to an aggressive effort by DeSantis – who is seeking his party’s presidential nomination – to implement a map that heavily favored the GOP.
In a rare move last year, DeSantis inserted himself into the redistricting process by vetoing a map drawn by the Republican-led legislature that had preserved existing districts represented by Black Democrats.
“Voters should be empowered to pick their leaders, not the other way around,” Jasmine Burney-Clark, the founding director of Equal Ground Education Fund, one of the groups that sued, said in a statement.
Under the map used in last year’s midterm elections, a significant number of Black voters from Lawson’s district were moved into communities represented by White Republicans.
The original article contains 437 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
