Government

FairDistricts Amendments Submitted, but Battle Could Still Be Ahead

Gelber: Effort afoot to undermine intent of the amendments
By: Brandon Larrabee News Service of Florida | Posted: March 31, 2011 3:55 AM


A controversial new set of standards for drawing the state’s legislative and congressional lines was submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice for review Tuesday, but the battle over the “FairDistricts” amendments and how they could reshape the state’s political future showed few signs of letting up.

An 11-page filing with the Justice Department -- which must approve changes to Florida voting and redistricting laws because of the state’s segregationist past -- defused one simmering dispute over the state’s obligation to submit the amendments for preclearance. It did so by satisfying concerns raised by Gov. Rick Scott, who drew renewed attention to the process when he yanked Amendments 5 and 6 from their first shot at preclearance.

Scott said he was withdrawing the measures, approved with 63 percent of the vote in the November elections, from preclearance scrutiny because of an executive order calling for a review of all new regulations. The move enraged supporters of the standards, who portrayed the withdrawal as a stall tactic.

On Tuesday, Scott said he supported the new filing, which comes from the Legislature.

“Despite pressure from special interest groups, I committed to Floridians that my review of the preclearance application for Amendments 5 and 6 would be thorough and complete,” Scott said in a statement issued Tuesday. “The action of legislative leaders today delivers on that promise.”

But the Legislature’s filing also included a legal theory that could fuel a new conflict with the supporters of Amendments 5 and 6, which are meant to cut back on political gerrymandering.

The amendments’ proponents say the selective carving of district lines has created strong GOP majorities in the House, Senate and the state’s congressional delegation in spite of Florida’s recent reputation as a swing state.

In response, the FairDistricts amendment prohibits boundary drawers, a group led again this time by Republicans, from drawing districts to a particular party or candidate’s advantage, a requirement that both sides agree will likely be decided in court.

In the submission to the Justice Department, legislative attorneys drew on the federal Voting Rights Act and statements from FairDistricts Florida -- which backed the amendments -- to argue that lawmakers can essentially ignore the new standards if they do so to protect districts designed to enhance the opportunity for blacks, Hispanics and other minorities to elect representatives of their own choice.

“In promoting minority voting strength, the Legislature may continue to employ whatever means were previously at its disposal,” says the filing, submitted by House General Counsel George Levesque and Andy Bardos, special counsel to Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, argued at length last year that the measures could dilute minority voting strength, especially in districts where minority voters play heavily into the final vote but are not a majority. FairDistricts Florida has repeatedly denied that interpretation.

In response to news of the preclearance submission, FairDistricts Now, a successor to the campaign that passed the amendments, suggested Tuesday that it might challenge some of the Legislature’s interpretations.

“We have received and are reviewing the re-submission of the preclearance application,” former Sen. Dan Gelber, the group’s general counsel, said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. “We are likely to file a comment with the Department of Justice because the submission contains a number of statements that are clearly intended to undermine the intent of the FairDistricts amendments.”


Comments (0)