MONTICELLO, FL (WTXL) - Jefferson County commissioners have decided not to appeal a federal ruling that their current voter districts were unconstitutional.
According to the county's attorney, the commissioners voted at a special meeting on Monday not to appeal the federal judge's decision.
A U.S. District Court Judge ruled on March 21 that the county's use of prison gerrymandering was unconstitutional. Prison gerrymandering is where state and local governments include prisoners as residents in their redistricting plans for purposes of drawing their election lines in such a way that reduces the voting strength of actual residents in the area.
Under current district lines, the Jefferson Correction Institution made up more than 40% of the voting age population in District 3, the ruling said. This meant the other nearly 60% of people in the district had more voting power, the judge ruled.
The county has special meetings scheduled throughout the week to help draw new district lines, attorneys said. He added the county will be viewing proposals from mappers during those meetings, as they only have until April 4 to redraw the districts.
If the county cannot come up with a map in time, the court will draw its own temporary plan, the initial ruling stated.
