A federal judge is expected to decide the future of the county’s redistricting maps on Monday.
Right now, it remains up in the air how Duval County districts will be drawn.
This decision will have a big impact on whether Jacksonville will lean Republican or Democrat.
The redistricting maps will also impact how school board districts are divided which can be concerning if those boundaries are drawn to favor one political party.
Multiple organizations including the NAACP, the ACLU and the Northside Coalition spoke out against the proposed redrawn maps, calling it unconstitutional and saying that it favored one political party or race over another. The groups sued the city and proposed three new maps and won.
Now the judge is now working to try and get both sides to come up with a new map that does not use race as a factor in drawing up boundaries.
The judge set a Dec. 28 deadline for both groups to make a final decision.
However, with Jacksonville’s next city election coming up fast on March 23 and there is a sense of urgency for a final decision to be made sooner.
The judge’s decision impacts the Supervisor of Elections’ ability to meet specific election deadlines to print the ballots to mail and provide information on who will be voting in what district.
Federal judge Marcia Morales Howard issued this statement in part:
“Cognizant of the Supervisor of Elections’ stated desire for a decision on the City’s electoral maps for the 2023 municipal elections on or before December 16, 2022, the Court advises that a decision will not be forthcoming…The Court is confident that the importance of the matters determined in this decision outweighs any harm that might flow from a delay of one business day.”
Mike Hogan the Supervisor Elections says no matter the outcome his office will do whatever the judge says.
Source : News4Jax
