Common Cause Florida et al v. Lee
Read the most recent case updates here.
Common Cause Florida, Fair Districts Now, and a group of individual plaintiffs from across the state filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Florida arguing that the court must step in to ensure voters, candidates, and elections officials have a fair congressional map in ample time for the 2022 elections. The complaint argues that since the Florida legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis have come to an impasse and are unable to pass a congressional map, and the current Florida congressional map is malapportioned, the court must stop Florida from holding any election under the current map and establish a new, constitutionally sound map.
Florida Supreme Court Advisory Opinion
On February 1, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis requested an advisory opinion from the Florida Supreme Court on whether he would be required to veto certain configurations of congressional district 5. Common Cause and FairDistrictsNow filed a response to the Governor’s request arguing that the Florida Supreme Court should not take jurisdiction because there was no final map for the Court to review and any decision from the court would be impermissible intervention in the legislative process.
The Supreme Court declined to take jurisdiction over the advisory opinion, leaving the question of the constitutionality of congressional district 5 for another day. Read the Florida Supreme Court opinion here.
Florida House and Senate Maps
Final House and Senate maps were passed by the Florida legislature on February 3, 2022. The Florida Constitution requires the Florida Supreme Court to provide a “facial review” of the constitutionality of the maps, including providing an opportunity for objections to be filed against the maps. For the first time, no objections were filed. On March 3, 2022, the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion upholding the House and Senate maps as passed by the legislature.