In total, six amendments will be on the November ballot. There are two amendments– Amendments 5 & 6— that are proving to be very contentious. Taken together, Amendments 5 and 6 relate to how districts are drawn in Florida.
Amendments 5 and 6, aim to set out standards by which districts boundaries should be drawn so as not to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent. The guidelines also call for compact districts, nearly equal in population size and which should adhere to government boundaries. The guidelines also suggest that racial or language minorities should not be denied an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice.
However, a recent study undertaken by the Community Census and Redistricting Institute, a project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, points out that the redrawing of districts would likely have a range of unintended or negative consequences. The authors of the study warn that “minority voting rights advocates should be concerned with the ramifications of Amendments 5 & 6 on majority-minority districts and minority voting rights in Florida.”
Anita Earls, Executive Director for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice discusses some of the negative consequences of Amendments 5 and 6. See link below:
