2015 UCF Science Café: You are invited to come and listen to UCF and national researchers talk about their work while enjoying wine and appetizers.
Dr. Aubrey Jewett
Associate Professor Department of Political Science
University of Central Florida
In 2008 Florida voters approved two Fair District Amendments to the state constitution that set standards for redistricting. Florida Republicans controlled the redistricting process in 2012 but were required to follow these new guidelines. Ultimately, the Justice Department and Florida Courts approved the maps that were drawn by Republican legislators, and candidates ran in those new districts for the 2012 and 2014 elections. However, the Florida Supreme Court did require substantial changes to the originally drawn Senate map and lawsuits continue over the Senate and Congressional plans (with the congressional map being redrawn for 2016). Despite some problems, overall the new process worked fairly well compared to previous redistricting efforts in Florida and compared to other states where partisan legislatures draw the lines. The new legislative and congressional districts were more compact, kept more counties and cities whole, protected minority voting rights, and did not favor or disfavor incumbents (although there were some signs of incumbency protection in the Senate). However, Republicans were able to maintain an overall partisan advantage in the new districts and keep firm control of the legislature and congressional delegation despite the Democratic edge in statewide registration of more than 4 percent (or more than 500,000 registered voters).
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