The Florida Supreme Court refused on Thursday to consider a challenge to a new map of the state’s 28 congressional districts approved by the Republican State Legislature, paving the way for November elections to be based on districts that a lower court said diluted the voting power of Black residents, in violation of the State Constitution.
The court’s two-sentence denial said it was premature for the justices to consider a suit seeking to overturn the congressional map because the case had not yet wound its way through the state court system, which could take months or years.
The new House map, personally ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, dismantles a House district held by Representative Al Lawson, an African American Democrat, and strongly boosts Republican odds of capturing other competitive House seats.
Voting rights groups argued that the map ignored an amendment to the State Constitution approved by voters in 2010 that outlawed partisan mapmaking and specifically barred the creation of districts that diminished the ability of minority voters to elect their chosen candidates.
