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<\/p>\nORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 A lawsuit could decide who is on your ballot and the clock is ticking as Election Day draws nearer.<\/p>\n
Two Central Florida voters are part of a lawsuit to block the new congressional map.<\/p>\n
The 70-page lawsuit was filed just hours after the Governor signed the map into law on Monday. The suit claims the 2026 map is politically motivated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Florida redistricting map Two Central Florida voters are part of a lawsuit to block the new congressional maps. (WFTV staff)<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can expect that they may or may not be in a new congressional district depending on where they live,\u201d Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor, said.<\/p>\n
A group of voters want the courts to block the map, saying it was drawn to intentionally favor the GOP, giving Republicans as many as 24 of Florida\u2019s 28 congressional seats.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit claims the 2026 map \u2018packs and cracks\u2019 Democratic voters in the Orlando area.<\/p>\n
The suit claims it\u2019s a violation of Florida\u2019s Fair Districts Amendment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fair District Amendment says that when you go to draw the district lines. You can\u2019t do so with the intent of favoring or disfavoring a political party or an incumbent,\u201d Jewett said.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s now up to the courts to decide if this map is constitutional. But that decision could take months or even years.<\/p>\n
Meantime, we\u2019re just weeks away from the candidates\u2019 qualifying deadline for the 2026 election cycle. So, in the meantime, the big question is how voters will navigate the uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now, it\u2019s a mess. And so if you\u2019re thinking about running for Congress, I would say what you have to do is assume that this new map is the one that you file under,\u201d Jewett said. \u201cI mean, the legislature has passed a new map. The governor signed it. Until the courts say differently, that\u2019s the map.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is some historical precedent for this. Back in 2012, Florida\u2019s Congressional map was tied up in a legal battle, but it was still used in the 2012 and 2014 elections. It wasn\u2019t until 2015 that the courts ruled that map unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
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