Black Voters Matter v. Byrd

Docket number
SC2023-1671
Date

Plaintiff voting rights groups and voters challenged Florida’s congressional district map enacted in 2022, including claiming it diminshes Black voting strength in violation of a 2010 state constitutional amendment. In particular, they alleged the plan eliminated FL-5—the only district in North Florida where Black voters could elect their candidate of choice—by splitting the district’s Black population among four congressional districts.

On May 12, 2022, a trial court temporarily enjoined the new congressional map. The court ordered the implementation of the plaintiffs’ proposed alternative plan for the 2022 election cycle, but an intermediate appeals court ruled that the trial court did not have discretion to implement that plan.

In September 2023, a trial judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on a permanent basis, but the intermediate appeals court again reversed.

On July 17, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s congressional map against the challenge that it diminishes Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of their choice. The plaintiffs did not show the North Florida district they proposed to remedy this violation complies with the federal equal protection clause, the court found.

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