A Tallahassee judge yesterday rejected the Florida Legislature's proposed constitutional amendment aimed at countering the "Fair Districts" amendments on this November's ballot that would reform how legislators draw up legislative and congressional districts.
Leon County Circuit Judge James Shelfer put it succinctly, saying:
"I'm not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, but it took me three days…to get a handle on what this amendment does," Shelfer said. The amendment summary's "failure to inform the public is clearly and convincingly an attempt to hide the ball" on its true impacts, he added.
The ruling will be appealed to the state Supreme Court, but must come down soon: the deadline for constitutional amendments to get on the November ballot is September 2.
Amendments 5 and 6, which are already on the ballot (though there is a separate legal challenge by opponents trying to force them off the ball0t) would theoretically make it harder for state lawmakers to draw up legislative and congressional districts to favor one party, which is the case now (in favor of Republicans).
Naturally, supporters of the amendments 5 and 6, like Ellen Freidin, the chair of FairDistrictFlorida.Org, cheered the ruling:
"We are so pleased that after careful review, Judge Shelfer recognized that the Legislature’s amendment was meant to trick voters so politicians could continue to use redistricting to favor themselves and their political allies/ We are grateful that our coalition partners NAACP, League of Women Voters of Florida, and Democracia Ahora took on this fight against the politicians and for the people of Florida. Now the voters – by voting YES on FairDistricts Amendments 5 and 6 — will have a real shot on November 2 at changing the system that has allowed politicians to draw districts to ensure their own re-elections."
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2010.