Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge ruled on Monday that “prison-based gerrymandering” in the drawing of district maps for county commission and school board seats in Jefferson County, Florida, is unconstitutional.
The American Civil Liberties Union and several Jefferson County residents brought about the lawsuit after the county, which has a non-prison population of 13,604 in the 2010 census, counted 1,157 Jefferson Correctional Institute inmates in one district, where they’re more than a third of the population.
That gave the eligible voters in the district almost twice the voting power of others in the county. County residents involved in the lawsuit say it also cut minority voting power.
The county must submit a proposed map that complies with the ruling by April 4. Otherwise, the court will draw its own interim map.
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