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One Panhandle State House District looks like a lobster claw, stretches over 15 counties and 170 miles. Today the Florida Supreme Court approved the language for a 2010 proposed Constitutional amendment that would require state lawmakers to draw  compact, contiguous districts that respect political boundaries and do not favor or hurt incumbents. Supporters say the approval is a major step forward for the initiative.

“You take all these minorities and put them into one area,” Thom Rumberger, the Chairman of Fair Districts, said. “Or you take all the Republicans and put them in, or you give a guy a Democrat seat so the Democrats have a safe seat. It’s a numbers game, a computers game.”

Supporters must now gather just less than 700,000 signatures to get the measure on the 2010 ballot. If they make it, sixty percent of those voters must approve for it to take effect.