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State lawmakers on the redistricting committee have voted not to let members of the public submit potential maps for new political districts, unless that map has been sponsored by a state Senator. A decade ago, GOP political consultants posed as member of the public, drew maps eventually adopted, then thrown out by the courts. Chair Ray Rodrigues of Ft. Myers thats not going to happen again. 

“The staff will only work on something if a Senator has sponsored it, and put our name on it and said we want this to be done. You have a member that does not want to go through the website to put their map in, then that member must not want that map to be considered by this body. Because that is the procedure we’ve laid out for the public to participate when it comes to submitting maps that have been drawn.” 

Under the new rules, anyone submitting a map must also sign a  form telling lawmakers which methodology they used in coming up with a design.