After reaching an agreement this week with voting-rights groups, Florida lawmakers face the chore of going into special session in October to redraw Senate districts. But the agreement with the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause Florida and others that legally challenged the Senate’s current map doesn’t list the districts that have to be changed. And the opponents’ objections have encompassed 28 districts — fully 70 percent of the districts represented in the 40-member Senate.
“The Senate has indicated that it’s going to redraw the map,” said David King, a lawyer for the groups that were fighting the plan. “I would assume that they will address the challenged districts. If they don’t, they’re going to have to justify those decisions in the remedial (legal) process.”
Lawmakers also will hold a special session Aug. 10 to redraw the state’s congressional map. But during that session, lawmakers have to comply with a relatively specific Florida Supreme Court decision spelling out the eight districts that need to be changed, as well as swapping populations to make sure the reconfigured seats serve the same number of residents.
Full Article: Legislators unsure how to go about redistricting – Jacksonville Business Journal.