As a Leon County circuit judge ponders plans for redrawing Senate districts, the state’s elections supervisors said in a court document Wednesday that they would like the map to be finalized by March 15. The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections said local officials need time before candidate qualifying in June and primary elections in August to take steps such as remapping counties to establish new district lines, creating new precincts and establishing polling places.
The document said supervisors plan to carry out newly drawn congressional districts immediately after the March 15 presidential primary and hope to also be able to put in place the new Senate districts at the same time.
Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds held a trial last week on redrawing Senate districts. The trial came after years of litigation about whether current Senate districts violate the anti-gerrymandering “Fair Districts” standards approved by voters in 2010. Reynolds will recommend a Senate map that will go to the Florida Supreme Court for review.
Full Article: Supervisors want new Florida Senate districts by mid-March – Tampa Bay Business Journal.