JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A federal judge in Jacksonville has now granted the waiver that the city requested with regard to residency for candidates.
Under the city charter, candidates had to live in the district they were seeking to represent, for 183 days before qualifying.
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Given the changes with the voting maps, the city asked the judge to waive the timeframe portion of that requirement.
COURT DOCUMENT: Order on residency waiver motion
The judge has granted it. So here’s what happens:
- Candidates must still have residency in the district that they are running in, but now, they only have to have residency as of the date of qualification — next week.
- The waiver only applies for the districts whose boundaries have been in question during this portion of the lawsuit: Districts 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14. It does not apply to the other districts, and it does not apply to the at-large seats.
In the meantime, the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals has yet to rule on the city’s motion for a stay in the legal fight over Jacksonville’s new city council and school board districts.
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In December, the federal judge ruled against the Jacksonville City Council’s redistricting plan and said the city should use a map proposed by civil rights groups, including the Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP. But the city last week asked the appeals court to allow it to use the map that the council approved for the city elections in the spring.
The city asked for a decision from the 11th Circuit by Friday.