{"id":296894,"date":"2026-06-05T07:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296894\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T07:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:44:22","slug":"pro-voting-groups-ask-florida-supreme-court-to-block-gop-gerrymander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296894\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-voting groups ask Florida Supreme Court to block GOP gerrymander"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pro-voting groups asked<\/a> the Florida Supreme Court Thursday to block the state\u2019s new GOP congressional gerrymander and let the 2026 elections move forward under the 2022 map, warning that Republican officials are trying to run out the clock before voters can get relief.<\/p>\n

The emergency filing marks a dramatic escalation in the fight over Florida\u2019s 2026 congressional map, which voting rights advocates say was drawn<\/a> to lock in Republican power before the midterms.<\/p>\n

The petitioners* are asking the state Supreme Court to step in now \u2014 before congressional qualifying begins<\/a> Monday \u2014 after lower courts refused<\/a> to stop the map from being used this cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis petition presents a simple question: whether Florida\u2019s political branches can openly defy the Florida Constitution and escape judicial review for an entire election cycle simply by attempting to run out the clock,\u201d the petitioners wrote. \u201cThe answer from this Court should be a resounding no.\u201d<\/p>\n

At issue is Florida\u2019s Fair Districts Amendment, the anti-gerrymandering reform voters approved<\/a> in 2010 to stop politicians from drawing congressional districts to benefit themselves or their party. <\/p>\n

The petitioners argue that the 2026 map was drawn in open defiance of that constitutional protection and that the Florida Supreme Court must act before the election calendar makes meaningful relief impossible.<\/p>\n

The filing asks the court to issue a constitutional writ \u2014 an emergency order that allows the court to protect its power to decide a case before time runs out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The petitioners say the danger is not theoretical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 1st District Court of Appeal denied their request to send the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court and also declined to speed up the appeal. Under the current schedule, the respondents would not even have to respond to the petitioners\u2019 brief until June 29 \u2014 weeks after congressional qualifying ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cRespondents have not contested these facts,\u201d the petitioners wrote. \u201cInstead, they have calculated that they do not need to win on the merits. They only need to slow-walk this litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing is central to the emergency request. Florida\u2019s congressional qualifying period runs from June 8 to June 12.<\/p>\n

The petitioners argue that the looming deadline should push the court to act quickly, not give the state a pass to use the new map. They also say candidates could still rely on qualifying signatures they have already collected because, in an apportionment year, congressional candidates may submit signatures from registered voters anywhere in Florida regardless of district lines.<\/p>\n

In a separate emergency motion<\/a>, the petitioners asked the Florida Supreme Court to move at extraordinary speed: order the respondents to show cause by 2 p.m. Friday and allow the petitioners to reply by 8 p.m. that same day. <\/p>\n

The stakes are enormous.<\/p>\n

The petitioners are asking the court to temporarily block the 2026 map and run the next congressional elections under the 2022 plan \u2014 the map Florida used in the last two congressional elections and one the state itself drew and defended. Their core argument is that voters should not be forced through a federal election under a map they say was built for partisan domination while the courts slowly consider whether it violates the state constitution.<\/p>\n

*The petitioners in this case are represented by the Elias Law Group (ELG). ELG firm chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pro-voting groups asked the Florida Supreme Court Thursday to block the state\u2019s new GOP congressional gerrymander and let…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-296894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}