A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a challenge to Florida’s Amendment 6, added to the state constitution by voters to curb so-called gerrymandering of congressional districts that historically protected incumbents or gave advantage to the political party in power. The three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed claims by U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, and Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat, that the power to change congressional redistricting rules resides solely with the Legislature and not the voters through a referendum.
“The lawmaking power in Florida expressly includes the power of the people to amend their constitution, and that is exactly what the people did here in passing Amendment 6,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus in the 32-page opinion, which affirmed a September ruling by a Miami federal judge.
Amendment 6 passed with 62 percent of the vote in 2010. Among other things, it requires that the 27 U.S. House of Representatives boundaries in Florida be compact rather than sprawling; that they not be drawn to favor incumbents or political parties; and that they not be designed to shut racial or language minorities out of the political process.
Full Article: Appeals court upholds Fla. redistricting amendment – Florida Wires – MiamiHerald.com.