Under the “One Person, One Vote” doctrine handed down by the U. S. Supreme Court, each district for a particular office needs to have the same number of people. After the decennial census, every political district must be redrawn to reflect any population changes.
Traditionally, those lines were drawn to benefit the Majority Party at the time to protect party incumbents, a process called gerrymandering. The word "gerrymandering" dates back to 1812, when first describing districts in the shape of a salamander in Massachusetts when Elbridge Gerry was Governor.
Today, every state has different standards and procedures for drawing the lines—some strict, some not.
Reapportionment of the 435 Congressional seats among the States to compensate for changes in state population also takes place following the census.
FLORIDA “FAIR DISTRICT” STANDARDS
The Florida State Legislature draws the lines for Congress, the Florida Senate, and the Florida House of Representatives. Reapportionment and redistricting have been major priorities for the Florida League of Women Voters since the mid 1940s and continuing each decennial.
The League worked tirelessly for years to get redistricting standards in the Florida Constitution. Finally, after successful citizen petition initiatives, two Fair District Amendments were placed on the 2010 Ballot and were overwhelmingly approved by Florida voters.
These new “Fair District Standards” require districts to:
-- not be drawn to favor any political party or incumbent.
-- protect minority, ethnic, and language populations.
-- be contiguous, as compact as possible, and respect existing geographic and community -- boundaries as much as possible.
-- be equal in population.
While most districts approximate equal population, Congressional Districts must be exact. All this is not easy, but it must be done “in the sunshine.” The final maps drawn by the Florida Legislature are then reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court.
AFTER 2010 CENSUS
In 2012, when the Legislature drew the three maps, they chose not to adhere to the Fair District Standards, nor did their discussions occur “in the sunshine.” Instead, the majority party chose to discuss and draw the maps in secret.
The map for the Florida House of Representatives passed the review of the Florida Supreme Court.
However the Congressional and Florida Senate maps did not meet judicial review, following lawsuits and countersuits.
Two special sessions failed to result in legislative agreement on acceptable Congressional and Florida Senate maps.
The Florida Supreme Court finally selected the League-sponsored Coalition’s maps. Both maps were used for the first time in the 2016 election.
NOW, IN 2021
A new census has been completed, the numbers are being reviewed, and the redistricting will begin again, this time with the standards firmly in place.
Due to Congressional Reapportionment, Florida will have one additional seat.
The new district lines will determine maps for the 2022 election of 28 Florida Congressmen and women, and for both houses of the Florida Legislature.
The timeline is tight. Census numbers will be released sometime in September, and maps will be drawn and passed during the 2022 Legislative session, which starts January 11.
All judicial review must be completed so candidates will know their districts long before the June 13-17, 2022 Qualifying Dates.
In 2018, Fair District Standards were added to the Broward County Charter for drawing the County Commission districts, along with the provision to use a Florida college/niversity to draw the maps. Broward County Commission lines will be drawn by Florida International University, as selected by the County Commission. Fair District Standards must be followed. The Broward County School Board will also redraw the lines for the seven single-member districts. The June 13-17 Qualifying Dates apply to all local candidates, as well.
LEAGUE MONITORS
Leaguers throughout Florida will be carefully monitoring the process to ensure that the standards are adhered to and that the public has input. Please let me know if you are interested in helping here in Broward (Carol Smith: cssmith@att.net).