Statement of Ben Wilcox on Florida Secretary of State’s Actions on Redistricting Reform Measure

Common Cause Florida

Statement of Ben Wilcox Executive Director, Common Cause/Florida On Florida Secretary of State’s Actions on Redistricting Reform Measure

Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood has overstepped her authority by attempting to prohibit an important redistricting standards measure from moving forward, and we plan to use all available legal remedies to overturn this ruling.

More than five months ago Secretary of State Hood gave explicit approval to circulate a ballot measure that would create fair and competitive political districts. Based on that approval, reform organizations, including Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, and a dozen other organizations collected more than 220,000 signatures from Floridians who believe that this measure is critical to restoring faith in our democracy.

We received notification just this morning that the two other redistricting measures one of which establishes an independent redistricting commission that will take the drawing of political lines out of the hands of partisan elected officials, have garnered the required number of signatures to trigger the review of the measures by the Florida Supreme Court. We are very encouraged and thrilled with the support that Florida voters are giving to these important reforms.

Attempting to remove this redistricting standards measure from the ballot, on the eve of the measure moving on to the next step in this process, is a classic bait and switch maneuver, and is unfair to the people of Florida. We will make use of all legal remedies available to ensure that this wrong-headed and illegal decision is overturned, and that the people of Florida have the opportunity to vote for fair political districts.