Florida residents file petition asking court to stop DeSantis' redistricting effort

Jeffrey Schweers, Orlando Sentinel on Feb 5, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Lawyers for residents in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have filed a petition challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call for a special session where lawmakers would redraw congressional boundaries mid-decade instead of every 10 years.

After months of trying to convince the Legislature to take up redistricting on its own, DeSantis on Jan. 7 called a special five-day session in April for the “purpose of considering legislation relating to the drawing of congressional districts for the State of Florida.”

The same day, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a DeSantis appointee, sent a letter to all 67 county supervisors of elections instructing them to implement candidate qualifying rules that only apply in a year in which the Legislature redraws congressional districts.

Those actions are unconstitutional, and violate Florida’s “strict separation of powers doctrine,” according to the petition, filed Thursday in the Florida Supreme Court by the Elias Law Group, a national firm based in Washington, D.C. specializing in voting rights litigation and progressive causes.

The actions of DeSantis and Byrd “commandeer the Legislature’s authority to decide whether and when to re-draw Florida’s congressional boundaries,” the petition says. “Their actions have already disrupted Florida’s impending elections by casting significant uncertainty on the future of Florida’s congressional map and the relevant candidate filing deadlines.”

The Orlando law firm of King, Blackwell, Zehnder & Wermuth, which also specializes in voting rights cases, is also representing the two petitioners, who are “citizens, taxpayers, and members of the general public seeking enforcement of a public right,” the petition says.

“The decision over whether and when to reapportion Florida’s congressional districts belongs to the Legislature,” the petition says. DeSantis can request a special session, “but he has no power to bind the Legislature into carrying out his preferred policy objectives by undergoing a legally unnecessary reapportionment.”

Nor can his agenda serve as a basis for triggering certain Florida statutes that are only to be used in a “year in which the Legislature apportions the state,” the petition says. That determination also is reserved exclusively to the Legislature.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Normally, state political boundaries are redrawn every 10 years based on the latest U.S. Census, which is used to determine whether states gain or lose seats in Congress, a process called reapportionment. The states then must redraw the district boundaries to take the population changes and any new congressional seats into account.

But, last year President Donald Trump — facing potential Republican losses in Congress during the 2026 elections — urged Republican-controlled states to conduct a rare mid-decade redistricting to try to gain more Republican-leaning seats. DeSantis was one of several governors who answered the call, along with GOP leaders in Ohio, North Carolina and Texas.

DeSantis has not provided any draft maps for consideration nor has any redistricting legislation been filed in the Legislature, despite two hearings held by a special House committee appointed to discuss redistricting options.

_____