FL Amendments 5 & 6

     In 2010, Florida voters passed Amendments 5 and 6 with the intent of creating fair districts. They supported what sounded to be a common-sense approach to redistricting. How many citizens would oppose the basic premise of a district that neither favors or disfavors an incumbent? How many would truly stand against the premise that a district should neither favor or disfavor any political party, or any qualified voter regardless of their heritage, sex, or income? Very few, indeed.

    However, if what you thought to be true turned out not to be true, would you want to know about it now, or later, when it?s too late to do anything? Did these amendments truly remove politics from the redrawing process or did voters unknowingly endorse a power shift to a potentially activist judiciary and to well-known community organizers who clearly hold significant political influence?

    Wesberry v. Sanders, a landmark 1964 Supreme Court case, held that the fundamental principle of representative government is one of equal representation for equal numbers of people, without regard to race, sex, or economic status. Soon afterward, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, prohibiting states from denying U.S. citizens? voting rights on account of ethnicity. When combining the provisions of the VRA with the new amendments, you notice interesting cross currents that will likely lead to legal challenges on behalf of voter groups.

    If districts are now required to be contiguous and compact, yet certain groups of organized voters are granted waivers to avoid having to comply with anti-gerrymandering requirements, how is that fair and equal? It?s not. The problems inherent with the amendments is they create compact districts for non-minorities and non-compact districts for minorities. That means Floridians are being treated unequally under the law.

    If our government is truly one of equal representation without regard to race, sex, and economic status, why was the MyDistrictBuilder website built to provide 12,000 demographic data points that include race, ethnicity, income and age?The right to vote is fundamental. Any right that impedes upon the voting rights of others is detrimental.

(James Marshal is active in Republican Party politics, including president of the Republican Men's Club of Brevard)