TALLAHASSEE – Lawyers for residents in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have filed a petition challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call for a special session where lawmakers would redraw congressional boundaries mid-decade instead of every 10 years.

After months of trying to convince the Legislature to take up redistricting on its own, DeSantis on Jan. 7 called a special five-day session in April for the “purpose of considering legislation relating to the drawing of congressional districts for the State of Florida.”

The same day, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a DeSantis appointee, sent a letter to all 67 county supervisors of elections instructing them to implement candidate qualifying rules that only apply in a year in which the Legislature redraws congressional districts.

Those actions are unconstitutional, and violate Florida’s “strict separation of powers doctrine,” according to the petition, filed Thursday in the Florida Supreme Court by the Elias Law Group, a national firm based in Washington, D.C. specializing in voting rights litigation and progressive causes.

The actions of DeSantis and Byrd “commandeer the Legislature’s authority to decide whether and when to re-draw Florida’s congressional boundaries,” the petition says. “Their actions have already disrupted Florida’s impending elections by casting significant uncertainty on the future of Florida’s congressional map and the relevant candidate filing deadlines.”