Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled Friday that the Florida Legislature must immediately revise its flawed congressional map and gave it until Aug. 15 to submit a revised map and ordered the state to propose a special election for the affected congressional districts. The practical effect is that lawmakers will have to schedule a special session to approve the new maps before the court’s deadline, or they could appeal his ruling and ask a higher court to stay the ruling. Lewis agreed with the Legislature’s lawyers and concluded “there is just no way, legally or logistically, to put in place a new map, amend the various deadlines and have elections on November 4th as prescribed by Federal law.” Lewis acknowledged that there is no easy solution but suggested “it might be possible to push the general election date back to allow for a special election in 2014 for any affected districts.”
He agreed that the Legislature should redraw the map and suggested that a revised map be in place by Aug. 21, meaning legislators would have to meet in special session approve a fix, and new elections could be held based on that. He also concluded “it is not an option to have a special election after the general election is held as I would no longer have jurisdiction over the matter.”
“The cure should not be worse for the patient than the illness,” Lewis wrote. “To develop a new map and hold a special eleciton for some congressional representatives would cost more money, would place additional burdens on our election officials and might confuse some voters. On the other hand, to do nothing, when you could, means that you lessen the ability of many citizens to fairly elect representatives of their choice — which is the effect of political gerrymandered districts.”
Lawyers for the legislature had argued the changing the map before the November elections would “cause horrific uncertainty” for voters and would be an extreme, unnecessary remedy. Lewis indicated he may ultimately conclude that setting new elections for a new map is not legal or practical but said “I am not there yet.”
Full Article: Judge calls for special election and immediate revamp of congressional map | Naked Politics.