Florida Gov Ron DeSantis has been hit with a lawsuit over his ongoing failures to set special elections for 3 state legislative districts that are set to soon become vacant in South Florida. Each of the districts lean heavily Democratic, "and almost half the voters in each of the three districts are Black, " The South Florida Sun Sentinel adds. The time between the revelations that the seats would become vacant and the still absent establishments of special elections by DeSantis are the longest such delays in Florida across two decades, suggesting that political motivations are behind the demonstrative abnormal developments.
Leaving the seats vacant means that residents in those three districts could miss out on representation during the State Legislative session thats slated for early next year, when critical issues---like redistricting----will be considered.
The new case against DeSantis seeks his compliance with legal demands for the Governor to set special elections in the event of vacancies. His recent republican predecessors in the current office, including past Florida Governors Rick Scott, Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush, have had considerably lower averages of time between legislative vacancies popping up and special elections getting called. The issue is not something that should be able to be turned into political Football----its a basic democratic function. The Harvard Election Law Clinic's Theresa Lee, who's organization filed the law suit against Desantis on behalf of the plaintiffs, said that if DeSantis "refuses to call these elections , the voters are being prohibited from voting, " which " just completely strikes at the heart of our system of representative government ."
BIPARTISAN REPORT by Caleb Newton 10/16/21
Leaving the seats vacant means that residents in those three districts could miss out on representation during the State Legislative session thats slated for early next year, when critical issues---like redistricting----will be considered.
The new case against DeSantis seeks his compliance with legal demands for the Governor to set special elections in the event of vacancies. His recent republican predecessors in the current office, including past Florida Governors Rick Scott, Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush, have had considerably lower averages of time between legislative vacancies popping up and special elections getting called. The issue is not something that should be able to be turned into political Football----its a basic democratic function. The Harvard Election Law Clinic's Theresa Lee, who's organization filed the law suit against Desantis on behalf of the plaintiffs, said that if DeSantis "refuses to call these elections , the voters are being prohibited from voting, " which " just completely strikes at the heart of our system of representative government ."
BIPARTISAN REPORT by Caleb Newton 10/16/21
