No, it will never make up for the absolutely horrible week we've just been through, but Fair Districts Florida just sent me an email letting me know that the two ballot initiatives limiting gerrymandering are officially on the Florida ballot.
Gerrymandering in Florida is completely out of control, and both parties have unfortunately contributed to the problem. For most of the 20th century the democrats controlled the Florida legislature, and used the redistricting process to the fullest extent possible, producing a very skewed state and Congressional delegation. Since 1990, the republicans have largely controlled the process. With the power of computers, and a huge margin in the State House, they produced one of the most partisan maps in the state that they could, which led to an 18-7 delegation in the US House, and 2/3 majority in both the state House and Senate for several years. For a state that is largely a swing state, with very close presidential elections, this is unacceptable.
To give an example, I live in a small town only about 15 miles from Gainesville, in the same county. Yet I am in district 6, which bypasses Gainesville entirely, and extend around Gainesville all the way up to Jacksonville. For me it is a 2 hour drive to the farthest point in my Congressional District. For others, it could be as much as 3 hours. Another egregious example is District 4, which runs from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, which is over 150 miles away.
The text of the ballot initiatives is below:
AMENDMENT 5
STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
BALLOT SUMMARY: Legislative districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.
Full text:
In establishing Legislative district boundaries:
(1) No apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory.
(2) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection (1) or with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.
(3) The order in which the standards within sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection.
AMENDMENT 6
STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING
BALLOT SUMMARY: Congressional districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.
Full text:
In establishing Congressional district boundaries:
(1) No apportionment plan or individual district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory.
(2) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection (1) or with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.
(3) The order in which the standards within sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection.
This is by no means perfect. No doubt there will still be many attempts to rig districts, but is is a very good start, and may help to correct some of the imbalances our state has experienced.