Voting rights groups end their federal challenge to congressional redistricting; a challenge remains at the Florida Supreme Court

Florida redistricting — Redrawn Congressional districts proposed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, 2022.

Voting rights groups said Thursday they will not appeal a federal court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of a Florida congressional redistricting plan.

The announcement came a month after a three-judge panel refused to reconsider a March 27 decision that said the groups had not met a key test of showing that the Legislature acted with racial motivation in overhauling a disputed North Florida district in 2022.

A separate challenge to the redistricting plan remains pending at the Florida Supreme Court.

The cases focus on changes to North Florida’s Congressional District 5, which in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson.

White Republicans won all North Florida congressional districts in the 2022 elections after the district was revamped.

In the federal court case, groups such as Common Cause Florida and the Florida NAACP argued that the redistricting plan, which Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature, was passed with a discriminatory motive.

But in denying the request for a rehearing, the panel reiterated its view that the plaintiffs had not shown racial motivation by the Legislature.

“Our unanimous conclusion was straightforward: Even if we assumed for argument’s sake that the governor acted with impermissible racial animus, the Legislature that enacted the challenged map did not,” the four-page order said. “This doomed plaintiffs’ claims.”

In statements Thursday, leaders of the voting rights groups criticized the court’s conclusion.

“The impermissible racial motives outlined in this case are unacceptable, but the court chose not to act,” Amy Keith, Common Cause Florida executive director, said.

Unlike typical cases, three-judge federal panels hear redistricting cases.

The panel was made up of Adalberto Jordan, a judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Judges M. Casey Rodgers and Allen Winsor.

The Florida Supreme Court case involves issues in the state Constitution.

Voting rights groups went to the Supreme Court after the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld the redistricting plan.