The Republican-controlled Florida legislature approved the map at a special session this week along party lines. DeSantis said he signed the card into law on Friday.
The lawsuit in the state court in the county of Leon claims that the card is a Republican Herrimander and violates the amendment of the Florida Constitution in Fair Districts, reducing the power of black voters. The plaintiffs ask the court to rule that the map or individual districts violate the Fair Districts amendment and to order the adoption of a new congressional map.
The challenge was filed by several voters in Florida, as well as the Women’s League of Florida, Black Voters Matter, Florida Rising and Equal Ground Florida.
The approved card could help Florida Republicans win up to four seats in the US House of Representatives in November.
The map dismantles the state’s 5th congressional district, currently represented by Democrat Al Lawson, which connects black communities from Tallahassee to Jacksonville. Instead, Jacksonville, the city with the largest African-American population in Florida, is divided into two Republican-facing areas.
The map also displaces the 10th Orlando-based Congressional District, represented by Val Demings, a black Democrat who is now running for the U.S. Senate, east of the Whiter community.
DeSantis claims that these districts are racially tense and suggests that they are unconstitutional.
Several black members of the Florida House staged a protest during Thursday’s debate, forcing an informal break before Republicans resumed the process by ending the debate and holding back the vote during the protest.
Republicans currently have a 16-11 lead in the House of Representatives delegation. The state added the 28th district after the 2020 census.
This story and title have been updated with further details.
CNN’s Steve Contorno, Ethan Cohen and Jade Tim-Garcia contributed to this report.
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