[katetomson]

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,4199031.story

Since the 1960s, state and local officials in the South have been required by law to seek advance approval from the Justice Department in Washington before making changes in their election rules, a legacy of the era when blacks were denied the right to vote.

But in an unusual twist, new Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is using the pre-clearance requirement in the Voting Rights Act to stall enforcement of a voter-approved initiative that bars partisan gerrymandering.

...

In November, 63% of Florida's voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that forbids lawmakers from drawing electoral districts to favor their party or to protect incumbents. The measure was opposed by prominent state politicians. Since Republicans have a majority in both houses of the state Legislature and control the governor's office, they could draw electoral districts to give the GOP an edge for the next decade in Tallahassee and in the state delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.

...

Florida cannot move ahead to implement its nonpartisan redistricting rules until a top state official asks for and receives permission from Washington.

Last week, the League of Women Voters, the Florida chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union sued Scott in federal court in Florida, seeking an order that would require the governor to submit the pre-clearance to Washington.

"It's time to stop the stonewalling," said Dan Gelber, counsel for Fair Districts Now, the group that sponsored the ballot measure.