The new electoral map wanted by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, candidate for his succession, was voted on Thursday by Florida in the run-up to the midterm elections in November. Highly contested, it suppresses several predominantly African-American districts to the point of being accused of racism by the Democrats.
With our correspondent in Miami, David Thomson
” It’s a charade meant to reduce the power of the black vote “, protests Michele Rayner, African-American representative of the 13th district of Florida. With about twenty other elected Democrats, Michele Rayner organized a sit-in in the middle of a session of the Florida Parliament against the vote of the new electoral map of Governor Ron DeSantis.
And for good reason, this electoral redistricting will increase from 16 to 20 the number of elected Republicans sent by Florida to the House of Representatives in Washington in the next mid-term elections in November. As for the Democratic seats which are currently eleven, they will only be eight after the reform.
In fact, Florida’s new electoral map creates four more seats in Republican districts and eliminates three in Democratic districts. However, these deleted districts are predominantly African-American. So much so that this law risks ending the careers of two black representatives.
Once signed by the governor, this law will therefore be immediately challenged in court by the Democrats who denounce electoral redistricting on racial criteria, which has been prohibited since the famous Voting Rights Act which in 1965 contributed to abolishing racial segregation in the United States. United.