Fla. Supreme Court Backs DeSantis Maps Diluting Black Power

Long before Texas officials scrambled for a special session to attack Black voter power in the Lone Star state, Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis was already stacking the deck in his party’s favor. 

Now, four years after redistricting began, the Florida Supreme Court upheld maps backed by DeSantis diluting Black voter power. Embracing a reverse racism style argument, the Florida Supreme Court claimed that allowing a majority Black district to remain would violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. 

Led by Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute and the League of Women Voters of Florida, voting rights groups maintain the maps violated the 2010 Fair Districts Amendment. They further argue that the maps diluted Black voter power and were an assault on Black representation. According to Democracy Docket, the maps commissioned by DeSantis split Black voters formerly in the state’s 5th Congressional district “across four separate districts, reducing their ability to choose a candidate that best represents them in North Florida.” 

DeSantis pointing to multiple courts upholding his allegedly “constitutionally correct map” does not mean the maps are accurate or fair. It only means that the courts have swung far enough to the right that the interpretation of accuracy and fairness is willing to overlook the true meaning of equal protection and fair representation. 

The Democracy Docket specifically called attention to the “non-diminishment” clause in Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment, which prohibits the state from creating districts that prevent racial or language minorities from having “equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice.” It’s all states’ rights, and states can decide until a state law actually benefits Black people. 

As reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, there is still a challenge pending regarding Congressional District 26. This case is also separate from a challenge to Florida Senate District 16 involving Black voters in Tampa and St. Petersburg. 

But the 5th Congressional District case underscores the importance of federal oversight and protection to ensure that states do not disenfranchise or disempower Black voters. As outlined by the Legal Defense Fund, Florida has passed several anti-voter laws and targeted fairness and transparency in the democratic process. DeSantis and his cronies have no interest in upholding equal protection or ensuring free and fair elections. Retaining power by any and all means is the name of their game. 

“Conditions that can foster voting discrimination — such as unfairly drawn districts that weaken the voting power of Black voters and other voters of color, inaccessible polling locations, insufficient language assistance for voters who don’t speak English comfortably, and outright voter intimidation — endure throughout Florida,” wrote the LDF. “And many of Florida’s counties and cities use at-large election structures or district maps that impair the ability of voters of color to elect candidates of their choice or influence the outcome of elections.”

Despite claims that the DeSantis maps are racially neutral and did not intentionally discriminate against Black voters, modern era segregationists know they need to make it look accidental to pass judicial scrutiny. Trying to prove racist intent is no longer as simple as it was 60 years ago. 

The battle over maps in Florida is one of many ongoing challenges to Black voter power. But limiting Black political power and, in turn, full political participation is not new. Even before the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments, the powers that be fought hard to minimize Black voting rights. And now, their descendants are colonizing the same laws passed to protect Black voters against us. 

Despite the extensive legislative history and record around the Reconstruction Era Amendments and numerous civil rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, these people follow the far-right SCOTUS majority’s intellectual dishonesty. There is nothing fair in what DeSantis and his cronies are doing. And yet, Black voters and the candidates who seek to represent their interests are left scrambling to out organize an increasingly hostile state and federal government. 

These contemporary voting rights challenges also show the enduring importance and need for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder eroded key sections of the Voting Rights Act, voting rights advocates have pushed for legislation to restore and strengthen voting rights protections. 

Choosing our representatives and free access to the ballot are two of the most significant pathways to improving conditions for our families and communities. Protecting and expanding voting rights requires sustained organizing and lobbying leading to new safeguards at the state level like state voting acts and other pro-democracy legislation. 

SEE ALSO: 

Federal Judges Rule Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ‘Race-Neutral’ Congressional Map Is Constitutional

Redistricting: Majority Black Voting Maps Rejected In Louisiana