Floridians Blame Legislature for Redistricting Fiasco

BRADENTON – Florida voters say that the state's legislature "handled redistricting very poorly," according to the results of a new statewide poll by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute.

Nearly 69 percent of likely voters polled said they were unhappy with legislators, while 64 percent overall expressed disappointment.

The poll also asked respondents who should be responsible for redistricting in the future. 28.7 percent said an independent commission appointed by Democrats and Republicans should draw the maps after each 10-year sentence, while only 14.3 percent wanted to keep it with the Florida Legislature.

13.9 percent favored a commission appointed by the governor, while only 7.1 percent supported a process governed by Florida judiciary and staff. 28.7 percent were unsure.

The legislature has spent $11 million in taxpayer money defending its efforts on redistricting, only to have courts agree that the maps were drawn in a partisan fashion, despite a new amendment prohibiting the practice, which was passed overwhelmingly by voters via a ballot referendum.

The Florida Legislature is on its third special session on redistricting, this time for the state senate, while the Congressional maps await approval from the Florida Supreme Court after a judge ruled that maps submitted by the League of Women Voters–who had challenged the legislature's maps–were the best of those submitted in the case.