Full opinion text
PARIENTE, J. With the goal of reforming this state’s legislative apportionment process, in 2010, the Florida voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution establishing stringent new standards for the once-in-a-decade apportionment of legislative districts. These express new standards imposed by the voters clearly act as a restraint on the Legislature in drawing apportionment plans. After the Legislature draws the apportionment plans, this Court is required by the Florida Constitution to review those plans to ensure their compliance with the constitution. In this review, we are obligated to interpret and apply these standards in a manner that gives full effect to the will of the voters. In order to do so, our review necessarily becomes more extensive than in decades past. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we declare the plan apportioning districts for the Florida House of Representatives to be constitutionally valid under the Florida Constitution. We declare the plan apportioning the districts for the Florida Senate to be constitutionally invalid under the Florida Constitution. The Legislature is now tasked by the Florida Constitution with adopting a new joint resolution of apportionment “conforming to the judgment of the supreme court” as set forth in article III, section 16(d). I. INTRODUCTION The once-in-a-decade process of redistricting follows the United States Census Bureau’s release of new census data. Article III, section 16, of the Florida Constitution expressly entrusts the Legislature with the obligation to redraw this state’s legislative districts and expressly entrusts this Court with the mandatory obligation to review the Legislature’s decennial apportionment plans. The Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate must adopt a joint resolution apportioning the legislative districts in accordance with federal and state constitutional requirements. Id. After the Legislature adopts a joint resolution of apportionment, the Florida Constitution requires the Attorney General to petition this Court for a declaratory judgment to determine the validity of the Legislature’s apportionment plans as enacted. Art. Ill, § 16(c), Fla. Const. Within thirty days of receiving the Attorney General’s petition, and after permitting adversary interests to present their views, the Court has a mandatory obligation under the Florida Constitution to render a declaratory judgment determining the validity of the Legislature’s apportionment plans. Id. Before 2010, this Court held that Florida’s constitutional requirements guiding the Legislature during the apportionment process were “not more stringent than the requirements under the United States Constitution.” In re Constitutionality of House Joint Resolution 1987 (In re Apportionment Law-2002), 817 So.2d 819, 824 (Fla.2002). Under this construction of the Florida Constitution, we reviewed legislative apportionment plans to determine whether those plans complied with (1) the general provisions of the United States Constitution, which set forth the one-person, one-vote standard under the Equal Protection Clause, and (2) the specific provisions of the state constitution, article III, section 16(a), requiring districts to be “consecutively numbered” and to consist of “contiguous, overlapping or identical territory.” On November 2, 2010, the voters approved Amendment 5 (Fair Districts Amendment) for inclusion in the Florida Constitution, greatly expanding the standards that govern legislative apportionment. When approving the Fair Districts Amendment for placement on the 2010 ballot, this Court explained that the “overall goal” of the Amendment was twofold: “[T]o require the Legislature to redistrict in a manner that prohibits favoritism or discrimination, while respecting geographic considerations” and “to require legislative districts to follow existing community lines so that districts are logically drawn, and bizarrely shaped districts ... are avoided.” Advisory Op. to Atty. Gen. re Standards for Establishing Legislative Dist. Boundaries, 2 So.3d 175, 181, 187-88 (Fla.2009) (plurality opinion). After its passage, the Fair Districts Amendment was codified as article III, section 21, of the Florida Constitution. With the advent of the Fair Districts Amendment, the Florida Constitution now imposes more stringent requirements as to apportionment than the United States Constitution and prior versions of the state constitution. The new standards enumerated in article III, section 21, are set forth in two tiers, each of which contains three requirements. The first tier, contained in section 21(a), lists the following requirements: (1) no apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; (2) districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and (3) districts shall consist of contiguous territory. The second tier, located in section 21(b), lists three additional requirements, the compliance with which is subordinate to those listed in the first tier of section 21 and to federal law in the event of a conflict: (1) districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; (2) districts shall be compact; and (3) where feasible, districts shall utilize existing political and geographical boundaries. See art. Ill, § 21(b), Fla. Const. The order in which the constitution lists the standards in tiers one and two is “not [to] be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that [tier].” Art. Ill, § 21(c), Fla. Const. These express new standards imposed by the voters clearly act as a restraint on legislative discretion in drawing apportionment plans. In this original declaratory judgment proceeding, we must define these new standards for the first time since the passage of the Fair Districts Amendment. Although this Court’s role is unquestionably circumscribed by the extremely short time frame set forth in article III, section 16(c), of the Florida Constitution, such a limitation cannot deter the Court from its extremely weighty responsibility entrusted to us by the citizens of this state through the Florida Constitution to interpret the constitutional standards and to apply those standards to the legislative apportionment plans. When interpreting constitutional provisions, this Court endeavors to ascertain the will of the people in passing the amendment. We follow the approach that has been consistently undertaken when interpreting constitutional provisions: The fundamental object to be sought in construing a constitutional provision is to ascertain the intent of the framers and the provision must be construed or interpreted in such manner as to fulfill the intent of the people, never to defeat it. Such a provision must never be construed in such manner as to make it possible for the will of the people to be frustrated or denied. Pleus v. Crist, 14 So.3d 941, 944-45 (Fla.2009); Zingale v. Powell, 885 So.2d 277, 282 (Fla.2004) (quoting Gray v. Bryant, 125 So.2d 846, 852 (Fla.1960)); Caribbean Conservation Corp. v. Fla. Fish & Wildlife Conservation Comm’n, 838 So.2d 492, 501 (Fla.2003). This Court’s duty to measure the Legislature’s apportionment plans with the yardstick of express constitutional provisions arises from the “well settled” principle that “the state Constitution is not a grant of power but a limitation upon power.” In re Apportionment Law Senate Joint Resolution No. 1305, 1972 Regular Session (In Re Apportionment Law-1972 ), 263 So.2d 797, 805 (Fla.1972). With the recent addition of section 21 to article III of the Florida Constitution, the Legislature is governed by a different and more comprehensive constitutional measurement than before — the limitations on legislative authority in apportionment decisions have increased and the constitutional yardstick has more measurements. In addition to measuring the Legislature’s compliance with these standards, we recognize the crucial role legislative apportionment plays with respect to the right of citizens to elect representatives. Indeed, the right to elect representatives — and the process by which we do so — is the very bedrock of our democracy. To ensure the protection of this right, the citizens of the state of Florida, through the Florida Constitution, employed the essential concept of checks and balances, granting to the Legislature the ability to apportion the state in a manner prescribed by the citizens and entrusting this Court with the responsibility to review the apportionment plans to ensure they are constitutionally valid. The obligations set forth in the Florida Constitution are directed not to the Legislature’s right to draw districts, but to the people’s right to elect representatives in a fair manner so that each person’s vote counts equally and so that all citizens receive “fair and effective representation.” Once validated by the Court, the apportionment plans, which redraw each of the 40 Senate districts and each of the 120 House districts, will have a significant impact on the election of this state’s elected representatives for the next decade. On February 9, 2012, the Legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 1176 (Joint Resolution), apportioning this state into 120 House districts and 40 Senate districts. The next day, the Attorney General fulfilled her constitutional obligation by filing a petition in this Court for a declaratory judgment to determine the validity of the legislative apportionment plans contained within the Joint Resolution. Following the Attorney General’s filing, this Court “permit[ted] adversary interests to present their views” as required by article III, section 16(c). Under this Court’s plenary authority to review legislative apportionment plans, we now have “jurisdiction to resolve all issues by declaratory judgment arising under article III, section 16(c), Florida Constitution.” In re Apportionment Law Appearing as Senate Joint Resolution 1 E, 1982 Special Apportionment Session (In re Apportionment Law-1982 ), 414 So.2d 1040, 1045 (Fla.1982). We have carefully considered the submissions of both those supporting and opposing the plans. We have held oral argument. For the reasons more fully explained below, we conclude that the Senate plan is facially invalid under article III, section 21, and further conclude that the House plan is facially valid. We agree with the position of the House that the House plan can be severed from the Senate plan. In accordance with article III, section 16(c), of the Florida Constitution, the Court enters a declaratory judgment determining that the apportionment plan for the House of Representatives as contained in Senate Joint Resolution 1176 is constitutionally valid and determining that the apportionment plan for the Senate as contained in Senate Joint Resolution 1176 is constitutionally invalid. II. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF ARTICLE III OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION In order to provide context for our present task of determining the validity of the House and Senate apportionment plans, we first review the historical evolution of the constitutional provisions pertinent to the Legislature’s decennial apportionment. Before 1968, there was no process by which challengers to the Legislature’s apportionment plans could seek direct and immediate review of the apportionment plans by the Supreme Court of Florida. Under the Florida Constitution of 1885, which was in effect until the adoption of the 1968 Constitution, litigation surrounding the validity of the Legislature’s adopted apportionment plans proliferated. Indeed, “[f]rom the years 1955 through 1966, no fewer than seven apportionment plans were formulated by the state legislature, all of which were determined eventually to be invalid by the federal judiciary.” In re Apportionment Law-1982, 414 So.2d at 1048 & n. 4 (citing Swann v. Adams, 208 F.Supp. 316 (S.D.Fla.1962); Swann v. Adams, 214 F.Supp. 811 (S.D.Fla.1963), rev’d, 378 U.S. 553, 84 S.Ct. 1904, 12 L.Ed.2d 1033 (1964); Swann v. Adams, 258 F.Supp. 819 (S.D.Fla.1965), rev’d, 383 U.S. 210, 86 S.Ct. 767, 15 L.Ed.2d 707 (1966); Swann v. Adams, 258 F.Supp. 819 (S.D.Fla.1965), rev’d, 385 U.S. 440, 87 S.Ct. 569, 17 L.Ed.2d 501 (1967); Swann v. Adams, 263 F.Supp. 225 (S.D.Fla.1967)). In some cases, litigation over a particular plan literally spanned a period of several years, infusing the apportionment and the electoral process with uncertainty. The end product of the Legislature’s attempt to avoid further apportionment litigation was the drafting of article III, section 16. In 1968, the citizens of Florida approved article III, section 16, for inclusion in the Florida Constitution, which provided a mechanism whereby the Supreme Court of Florida was given mandatory and express jurisdiction to determine the validity of the Legislature’s enacted apportionment plan under a strict thirty-day time limit. See id. at 1048; see also art. Ill, § 16(c), Fla. Const. The affirmative decision of the voters to place the apportionment responsibility squarely in the state judiciary rather than leave it to the federal judiciary was in line with the United States Supreme Court’s recognition of that preference: The power of the judiciary of a State to require valid reapportionment or to formulate a valid redistricting plan has not only been recognized by this Court but appropriate action by the States in such eases has been specifically encouraged. State of Maryland Committee for Fair Representation v. Tawes, 377 U.S. 656, 676 [84 S.Ct. 1429, 12 L.Ed.2d 595] (1964); City of Scranton v. Drew, 379 U.S. 40 [85 S.Ct. 207, 13 L.Ed.2d 107] (1964), citing Butcher v. Bloom [415 Pa. 438], 203 A.2d 556 (1964); Jackman v. Bodine [43 N.J. 453], 205 A.2d 713, 724 (1964). See also Kidd v. McCanless [200 Tenn. 273], 292 S.W.2d 40 (1956), and discussion thereof in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 235-236 [82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed.2d 663] (1962). Scott v. Germano, 381 U.S. 407, 409, 85 S.Ct. 1525, 14 L.Ed.2d 477 (1965) (parallel citations omitted). In addition, article III, section 16, required the Legislature to comply with federal and state constitutional standards: The legislature ... shall apportion the state in accordance with the constitution of the state and of the United States into not less than thirty nor more than forty consecutively numbered senatorial districts of either contiguous, overlapping or identical territory, and into not less than eighty nor more than one hundred twenty consecutively numbered representative districts of either contiguous, overlapping or identical territory. Art. Ill, § 16(a), Fla. Const. In every apportionment decision since the adoption of article III, section 16, this Court has reviewed the validity of the Legislature’s joint resolution of apportionment consistent with the language of that provision, examining criteria such as population disparities between legislative districts (federal equal protection standard of one-person, one-vote), territorial boundaries (contiguity), and numbering issues (consecutiveness). In 2002, this Court discussed the scope of the Legislature’s duty in relation to the constitutional standards, explaining that “the requirements'under the Florida Constitution [were] not more stringent than the requirements under the United States Constitution.” In re Apportionment Law-2002, 817 So.2d at 824 (citing In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 807-08). Limited by a construction of Florida’s constitution that was not more extensive than the United States Constitution, the Court declined to require the Legislature to adopt an apportionment plan using the following four objective standards proposed by Common Cause Florida and the Florida League of Women Voters: [A]ll districts should (1) have equal population as closely as possible; (2) be drawn to be compact and contiguous and respect local political boundaries; (3) not dilute the voting strength of any racial, ethnic, or minority group; and (4) be drawn neutrally without regard to the incumbent or political party. Id. at 832. Other challengers, including the Attorney General, “questioned the Legislature’s decision not to articulate objective standards that guided its redistricting process.” Id. at 831. The Court rejected all of these arguments, making the following observation: The only standards that the Legislature is constitutionally required to follow in redistricting are the equal protection standard of “one-person, one-vote,” the Florida Constitutional requirement that legislative districts be “either contiguous, overlapping, or identical territory,” and the requirement not to discriminate against any racial or language minority or political group. See [Davis v.] Bandemer, 478 U.S. [109,] 118-27, 106 S.Ct. 2797 [92 L.Ed.2d 85 (1986) ]; In re Senate Joint Resolution 2G, 597 So.2d at 278-80. While the other “standards” advocated by the opponents have been traditional considerations in the redistricting process, they are not constitutionally required. See Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. [630,] 647, 113 S.Ct. 2816 [125 L.Ed.2d 511 (1993) ]; Gaffney v. Cum mings, 412 U.S. [735] 752 n. 18, 93 S.Ct. 2321 [37 L.Ed.2d 298 (1973) ]. Hence, we decline the Attorney General’s and other parties’ requests to return the plan to the Legislature to create standards. As explained above, for those standards that can be fully addressed in this opinion, we conclude that the Legislature has complied with the requirements set forth by the federal and state constitutions. Id. at 832. Under the state constitutional framework, while the Florida Constitution grants the Legislature the authority to apportion the legislative districts every ten years, the authority is circumscribed by the right of the people to instruct their representatives on the manner in which apportionment should be conducted. As this Court stated in 1972: When the people of Florida adopted the Constitution of 1968 they reserved to themselves the right to instruct their representatives and, at the same time, authorized the election of these representatives in senatorial and representative districts which may be “either contiguous, overlapping or identical territory.” In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 807. In 2010, with the passage of the Fair Districts Amendment, the people of Florida increased the instructions to their representatives to provide additional constitutional imperatives for their elected representatives to follow when drawing the senatorial and representative districts. Our conclusion in 2002 that the above criteria were not constitutionally required has been expressly overridden by a constitutional amendment approved by the voters of Florida on November 2, 2010. The ballot summary for the Fair Districts Amendment on which Florida citizens voted stated: Legislative districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries. Standards for Establishing Legislative Dist. Boundaries, 2 So.3d at 179. Proposed by initiative petitions that the organization FairDistrictsFlorida.org sponsored, this constitutional amendment is now codified in article III, section 21, of the Florida Constitution and imposes additional substantive standards with which the Legislature must comply in carrying out its constitutional duties in establishing legislative district boundaries. See art. Ill, § 21, Fla. Const. As approved by Florida voters, article III, section 21, provides in full: In establishing legislative district boundaries: (a) No apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory. (b) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection (a) or -with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries. (c) The order in which the standards within subsections (a) and (b) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection. Art. Ill, § 21, Fla. Const, (footnotes omitted). In contrast to the standards that guided the Legislature during prior apportionment cycles, the standards governing the instant apportionment process are now more stringent than the requirements under the United States Constitution and prior versions of the Florida Constitution. It is our task to interpret these new constitutional standards, together with the previous constitutional standards, against the apportionment plans contained within the Joint Resolution. Through our interpretation of these provisions, we necessarily determine the validity of both the House and Senate legislative apportionment plans. In making these determinations, we first set forth the applicable standard of review. We next discuss each of the separate constitutional requirements imposed by the Florida and United States Constitutions and how the requirements are to be analyzed both individually and collectively. Then, in light of challenges raised by the opponents of the plans, we examine whether the Legislature’s apportionment plans are facially consistent with these requirements. III. ANALYSIS A. Standard and Scope of Review The overarching question to be considered by the Court in this declaratory judgment proceeding is the constitutional validity of the plans contained within the Legislature’s joint resolution of apportionment. See In re Apportionment Law-2002, 817 So.2d at 824; In re Apportionment Law-1982, 414 So.2d at 1052. The validity of the joint resolution is determined by examining whether the Legislature has operated within the constitutional limitations placed upon it when apportioning the state’s legislative districts. The newly added constitutional standards are directly related to ensuring that the process by which citizens choose their elected officials is fair. Like Florida, other states have recognized that legislative redistricting is fundamental to ensuring that citizens choose their elected officials in an equitable manner. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania stressed this very principle when it recently invalidated the Pennsylvania 2012 apportionment plan, stating that “[ljegislative redistricting ‘involves the basic rights of the citizens ... in the election of their state lawmakers.’ ” Holt v. 2011 Legislative Reapportionment Comm’n, 7 MM 2012, — Pa. -, 38 A.3d 711, 716 (Pa. Jan. 25, 2012) (quoting Butcher v. Bloom, 415 Pa. 438, 203 A.2d 556, 559 (1964)). The Supreme Court of Colorado has similarly emphasized that “[t]he basic purpose of the constitutional standards for reapportionment is to assure equal protection for the right to participate in the ... political process and the right to vote.” In re Reapportionment of Colo. Gen. Assembly, 45 P.3d 1237, 1241 (Colo.2002). The recognition of the critical importance of redistricting in ensuring the basic rights of citizens to vote for the representatives of their choice is highlighted by a series of voting cases from the United States Supreme Court, most notably in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 12 L.Ed.2d 506 (1964): [T]he right of suffrage is a fundamental matter in a free and democratic society. Especially since the right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized .... ... To the extent that a citizen’s right to vote is debased, he is that much less a citizen. Id. at 561-62, 567, 84 S.Ct. 1362. In explaining the goal of legislative apportionment in terms of the rights of voters, the United States Supreme Court in Reynolds emphasized: Since the achieving of fair and effective representation for all citizens is con-cededly the basic aim of legislative apportionment, we conclude that the Equal Protection Clause guarantees the opportunity for equal participation by all voters in the election of state legislators. Diluting the weight of votes because of place of residence impairs basic constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment just as much as invidious discriminations based upon factors such as race.... Id. at 565-66, 84 S.Ct. 1362. In describing the significance of its prior jurisprudence in Reynolds, the United States Supreme Court emphasized the importance of the right of voters to fair representation: Furthermore, in formulating the one person, one vote formula, the Court characterized the question posed by election districts of disparate size as an issue of fair representation. In such cases, it is not that anyone is deprived of a vote or that any person’s vote is not counted. Rather, it is that one electoral district elects a single representative and another district of the same size elects two or more — the elector’s vote in the former district having less weight in the sense that he may vote for and his district be represented by only one legislator, while his neighbor in the adjoining district votes for and is represented by two or more. Bandemer, 478 U.S. at 123, 106 S.Ct. 2797. In Bandemer, the United States Supreme Court recognized that fairness in voting under the federal constitution extended to dilution of the right to vote based on districts that were drawn in a manner that favored a political party. With fairness in drawing the legislative districts as the focus, article III, section 21, imposes additional standards upon the Florida Legislature to follow in apportionment proceedings. Article III, section 21, also provides Florida citizens with additional constitutional protections to ensure that their right to fair and effective representation is not impaired by the manner in which the legislative districts are drawn. These constitutional constraints imposed on the Legislature in drawing legislative districts are designed to “maximize electoral possibilities by leveling the playing field” for the increased protection of the rights of Florida’s citizens to vote and elect candidates of their choice. Brown v. Sec’y of State, 668 F.3d 1271, 1285 (11th Cir.2012). Throughout these proceedings, the Attorney General, the Senate, and the House have asserted that the Legislature should have full discretion in balancing the constitutional criteria that apply to apportioning legislative districts. However, when addressing similar arguments that state legislatures should have full discretion in considering such matters, the United States Supreme Court in Reynolds eloquently stated: “We are cautioned about the dangers of entering into political thickets and mathematical quagmires. Our answer is this: a denial of constitutionally protected rights demands judicial protection; our oath and our office require no less of us.” 377 U.S. at 566, 84 S.Ct. 1362. Although the advent of new constitutional requirements undoubtedly increases the Legislature’s apportionment obligations, the House and Senate plans still come to this Court with an initial presumption of validity. In re Apportionment Law-2002, 817 So.2d at 824-25. This presumption serves to recognize the deference initially owed to legislative acts upon passage. Thus, what was true in 1972 regarding the respective roles of the Court and the Legislature in the apportionment process still holds true today: [W]e emphasize that legislative reapportionment is primarily a matter for legislative consideration and determination. Judicial relief becomes appropriate only when a legislature fails to reapportion according to federal and state constitutional requisites. If these requisites are met, we must refrain, at this time, from injecting our personal views into the proposed reapportionment plan. Even though we may disagree with the legislative policy in certain areas, the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers and the constitutional provisions relating to reapportionment require that we act with judicial restraint so as not to usurp the primary responsibility for reapportionment, which rests with the Legislature. In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 799-800; see also In re Apportionment Law-2002, 817 So.2d at 824 (same). Even though we continue to recognize the presumption of validity that governs ordinary legislative acts, the operation of this Court’s process in apportionment cases is far different than the Court’s review of ordinary legislative acts, and it includes a commensurate difference in our obligations. Challenges to the constitutionality of ordinary legislative acts passed by the Legislature must be brought in a trial court and then reviewed by a district court of appeal. This Court has mandatory jurisdiction in those circumstances only if the legislative act is found to be unconstitutional. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. In contrast, the Court’s mandatory review to determine the validity of apportionment plans every ten years derives from a different provision of the constitution: article III, section 16(c). The constitution specifies that the Attorney General “shall” file a petition for a declaratory judgment and that this Court “shall permit adversary interests to present their views.” Art. Ill, § 16(c), Fla. Const. In this type of original proceeding, the Court evaluates the positions of the adversary interests, and with deference to the role of the Legislature in apportionment, the Court has a separate obligation to independently examine the joint resolution to determine its compliance with the requirements of the Florida Constitution. Because it is the obligation of this Court to enter a judgment declaring the joint resolution valid or invalid, the Court has routinely accepted that judicial relief would be warranted where the Legislature has “failfed] to reapportion according to federal and state constitutional requisites.” In re Apportionment Law-2002, 817 So.2d at 824 (quoting In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 800). This Court in In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 806, while cognizant that “[t]he propriety and wisdom of legislation are exclusively matters for legislative determination,” also recognized that the Legislature’s authority was not unbridled. The Court observed that, although “in accordance with the doctrine of separation of powers, [it would] not seek to substitute its judgment for that of another coordinate branch of the government,” pursuant to that same constitutional doctrine, the Court was also responsible for measuring legislative acts “with the yardstick of the Constitution.” Id. Unlike 2002, when “the requirements under the Florida Constitution [were] not more stringent than the requirements under the United States Constitution,” In re Apportionment Law-2002, 817 So.2d at 824, now, the Florida Constitution imposes a higher standard on the Legislature when formulating the state’s apportionment plans. The citizens of Florida mandated additional constitutional imperatives for their elected representatives to follow when redrawing senatorial and representative districts. The new requirements dramatically alter the landscape with respect to redistricting by prohibiting practices that have been acceptable in the past, such as crafting a plan or district with the intent to favor a political party or an incumbent. By virtue of these additional constitutional requirements, the parameters of the Legislature’s responsibilities under the Florida Constitution, and therefore this Court’s scope of review, have plainly increased, requiring a eommensurately more expanded judicial analysis of legislative compliance. It is this Court’s duty, given to it by the citizens of Florida, to enforce adherence to the constitutional requirements and to declare a redistricting plan that does not comply with those standards constitutionally invalid. We reject the assertions of the Attorney General and the House that a challenger must prove facial invalidity beyond a reasonable doubt. While there have been decisions of this Court reciting that principle with regard to legislative enactments, such as Crist v. Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Inc., 978 So.2d 134, 139 (Fla.2008), cited by the House, that principle of statutory construction was stated only once in an apportionment decision and was made in the context of an attack on multi-member districts. See In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 805-06. Since 1972, we have never used that principle of statutory construction when enunciating the standard for our review of legislative apportionment, including our last comprehensive statement in 2002. Therefore, to use the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt would be a departure from our precedent in legislative apportionment jurisprudence. We conclude that the beyond a reasonable doubt standard is ill-suited for an original proceeding before this Court in which we are constitutionally obligated to enter a declaratory judgment on the validity of the legislative plans. Unlike a legislative act promulgated separate and apart from an express constitutional mandate, the Legislature adopts a joint resolution of legislative apportionment solely pursuant to the “instructions” of the citizens as expressed in specific requirements of the Florida Constitution governing this process. Because “legislative reapportionment is primarily a matter for legislative consideration and determination,” In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 799-800, this Court will defer to the Legislature’s decision to draw a district in a certain way, so long as that decision does not violate the constitutional requirements. With an understanding that the Court’s responsibility is limited to ensuring compliance with constitutional requirements, and endeavoring to be respectful to the critically important role of the Legislature, the Court has previously acknowledged that its duty “is not to select the best plan, but rather to decide whether the one adopted by the legislature is valid.” In re Apportionment Law-1992, 597 So.2d at 285. This principle is in keeping with the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Perry v. Perez, — U.S. -, 182 S.Ct. 934, 941, 181 L.Ed.2d 934 (2012), which stated that “redistricting ordinarily involves criteria and standards that have been weighed and evaluated by the elected branches in the exercise of their political judgment.” In Perez, when it became clear that a state’s redistrieting plan would not obtain preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a federal district court drew an interim redistricting plan without giving deference to the state’s policy choices. In reversing the federal court’s drawing of the plan, the Supreme Court explained that a federal district court may not wholly disregard policy choices made by a state’s legislature, where those policy choices are not inconsistent with the United States Constitution or the Voting Rights Act. Id. at 943. The Supreme Court held that a “state plan serves as a starting point” for a federal district court because “[i]t provides important guidance that helps ensure that the district court appropriately confines itself to drawing interim maps ... without displacing legitimate state policy judgments with the court’s own preferences.” Id. at 941. Perez is in conformity with the federal judiciary’s strong preference to yield to states in making initial redistricting decisions as long as there is no violation of either the United States Constitution or the Voting Rights Act. As was emphasized in Scott v. Germano over 45 years ago, the “power of the judiciary of a State to require valid reapportionment or to formulate a valid redistricting plan has not only been recognized by [the United States Supreme] Court but appropriate action by the States in such cases has been specifically encouraged.” Germano, 381 U.S. at 409, 85 S.Ct. 1525, Any attempt to use Perez in support of an argument that the state judiciary is constrained in performing its constitutionally mandated review takes the holding of Perez out of context. In contrast to Perez, this Court’s initial review of the Legislature’s joint resolution of apportionment does not require any balancing of concerns for federal versus state sovereignty. Nor is this Court engaged at this point in redrawing the plans. Rather, this Court is required by the state constitution to evaluate whether the Legislature’s apportionment plans conflict with Florida’s express constitutional standards. See art. Ill, § 16(c), Fla. Const. The Supreme Court’s concerns in Perez regarding judicial overreach by the federal court in redrawing the state’s apportionment plan do not apply to this original state proceeding, during which this Court is mandated to assess the Legislature’s compliance with constitutional standards. At this juncture, the Court plays no role in drawing the Legislature’s apportionment plans, and the deference owed by the federal courts to the state in the drawing of the plan is not implicated. In our initial review of the Legislature’s plan, we recognize the limitations of this Court’s responsibilities. At the same time, we acknowledge and accept our paramount responsibility in apportionment, as set forth by the Florida Constitution, to ensure that the adopted plans comply with the constitutionally required mandates. “In other words, it is this Court’s duty to enforce adherence to the constitutional requirements and to declare a redistricting plan that does not comply with those standards unconstitutional.” In re Legislative Districting of State, 370 Md. 312, 805 A.2d 292, 316 (2002). Where the legislative decision runs afoul of constitutional mandates, this Court has a constitutional obligation to invalidate the apportionment plan. To accept the Legislature’s assurances that it followed the law without any type of inquiry or any type of meaningful review by this Court would render the Court’s review of the new constitutional standards, and whether the Legislature complied with the new standards, essentially meaningless. To accept the Legislature’s and Attorney General’s position that this Court should not undertake a meaningful review of compliance with the new constitutional standards in this proceeding, but instead await challenges brought in trial courts over a period of time, would be an abdication of this Court’s responsibility under the Florida Constitution. This approach would also create uncertainty for the voters of this state, the elected representatives, and the candidates who are required to qualify for their seats. The question then becomes how this Court will accomplish its review in a meaningful way given the nature of this constitutionally required proceeding. Undoubtedly, this Court is limited by time to be able to relinquish for extensive fact-finding as we have undertaken in other original proceedings, or to appoint a commissioner to receive testimony and refer the case back to the appellate court together with findings that are advisory in nature only. A review of prior reapportionment decisions from 1972, 1982, and 1992 reveals that in the past, the Court has retained exclusive state jurisdiction to allow challenges to be later brought, and then, on one occasion, the Court appointed a commissioner to conduct fact-finding on a specific challenge pursuant to our apportionment original jurisdiction. In light of two distinct developments, our past approach is not determinative of our review in this post-2010 case. The first development, as mentioned above, is that in 2010, the voters imposed upon the Legislature explicit, additional state constitutional standards. In contrast to 2002, where the challenges exceeded our limited scope of review because they were based on violations of federal law, the challenges in 2012 are based specifically on allegations that the plans facially violate the requirements of the new provisions of our state constitution. The second development is that technology has continued to advance in the last decade, allowing this Court to objectively evaluate many of Florida’s constitutionally mandated criteria without the necessity of traditional fact-finding, such as making credibility determinations of witnesses. In furtherance of the goal to conduct an objective evaluation of the plans, the Court required all plans, including alternative plans, to be submitted electronically in .doj format, allowing for every party and the Court to evaluate the plans using the same statistical analysis and data reports. To ensure that the Court would have the means to objectively evaluate the plans, the Court specified in its order the manner in which the House and Senate plans should be submitted to the Court in .doj format: For each plan file submitted for the newly created apportionment plans, the Attorney General is directed to specify the software used to create the plan, the data and criteria used in drafting the plan, the source of the data used in drafting the plan, and any other relevant information. The Attorney General is also directed to file along with the plan statistical reports for both the new plans and the last legally enforceable plans in searchable Portable Document Format (PDF), which include at a minimum the following from the 2010 Census: the population numbers in each district, the total voting age population (VAP) in each district, and the VAP of each racial and ethnic group in each district. Reports with additional information and statistics (e.g., compactness measurements), and reports for prior apportionment plans, may also be submitted in searchable PDF format. The Attorney General is also directed to provide the Court with maps of the House and Senate apportionment plans depicting the new districts, which shall include maps depicting the entire state as well as regional maps. In addition to the maps depicting the districts, the Attorney General may also file maps depicting the apportionment plans with data overlays. For each such map, the Attorney General is directed to specify the data depicted in the data overlay and the source of that data. The Attorney General may also file maps other than maps depicting the new apportionment plans, including maps of prior apportionment plans with or without any data overlays. In re Joint Resolution of Legislative Apportionment, No. SC12-1 (Fla. Sup.Ct. order filed Jan. 25, 2012). As for parties, the Court permitted the filing of alternative plans and ordered the parties to comply with the following requirements: Parties submitting alternative plans must submit the alternative plans electronically in .doj format.... For each plan file submitted, the submitting party must specify the software used to create the plan, the data and criteria used in drafting each plan, the source of the data used in drafting the plan, and any other relevant information. The submitting party shall also specify whether the alternative plan is a partial or complete plan, and the population deviation for each district in the plan; if a partial plan is submitted, the submitting party must specify what county or counties are included in the partial plan. Parties may also submit statistical reports related to each submitted plan in searchable PDF format. For each submitted alternative plan, the submitting party must file map(s) depicting the alternative plan districts ■with this Court. At least one map shall be filed that reflects the entire alternative plan. The submitting party may file additional maps showing regions or areas of interest. In addition to maps depicting the districts of the alternative plan, the submitting party may also file maps depicting the apportionment plans with data overlays, including maps of the prior plans. Each such map shall specify the data depicted in the data overlay and the source of that data. For each map filed with the Court, the submitting party shall file the map in electronic PDF format and provide the Court with fifteen (15) color paper copies. Id. The only opponent in this case to submit an alternative plan was the Coalition, which submitted two alternative plans to this Court: an alternative Senate plan and an alternative House plan. The Court permitted alternative plans because alternative plans may be offered as relevant proof that the Legislature’s • apportionment plans consist of district configurations that are not explained other than by the Legislature considering impermissible factors, such as intentionally favoring a political party or an incumbent. The Legislature is not obligated to accept alternative plans; this Court, however, may review them to evaluate whether the Legislature’s adopted plans are contrary to law. See, e.g., Holt, 38 A.3d at 755, 2012 WL 360584, at *36 (explaining that alternative plans may be used as proof that the final plan “contained subdivision splits that were not absolutely necessary”). In furtherance of our goal to ensure that the Court had complete information, at the Court’s direction, the Attorney General filed an appendix to the petition for declaratory judgment and filed the apportionment plans electronically in .doj format, which would allow this Court and the challengers to perform an objective statistical analysis of the plans submitted by using standard redistricting software. The House and Senate each developed and utilized its own web-based redistricting software, MyDistrictBuilder and District Builder, respectively. This Court had access to both MyDistrictBuilder and District Builder as well as the data in the House program, which included census data, American Community Survey data, and voter registration and elections data. We have also received the incumbent addresses upon which the challengers based their claims that districts were drawn to favor incumbents. The type of information available for this original review is objective data. In performing its objective analysis of the data, the Court did not rely on the figures or statistical analysis contained in the appendices filed by the FDP or the Coalition. Instead, the Court utilized the MyDistrictBuilder and District Builder software applications to evaluate the Legislature’s apportionment plans and the Coalition’s alternative plans. The Court utilized both software applications to evaluate voting-age population and to conduct a visual inspection of the districts. All of the maps depicting districts contained in this opinion were obtained using District Builder, except for a map depicting the City of Lakeland. This Court utilized MyDistrictBuilder when analyzing undisputed voter registration and election data because MyDistrictBuilder contained that data, but District Builder did not. Specifically, this Court utilized the registration and election data to conduct an analysis of minority voting behavior in evaluating challenges to individual districts. Further, this Court utilized this data to examine the overall political composition of the House and Senate plans, as well as the political composition of each challenged district. The Court additionally acquired Mapti-tude for Redistricting and inputted into Maptitude the voter registration, political, and elections data utilized by MyDistrict-Builder. The Court also inputted the incumbent addresses into Maptitude. The Court utilized Maptitude to conduct additional evaluation of the plans, such as the location of incumbents’ addresses and calculations of the percentage of prior population retained by a district. This Court also examined graphical data overlays of voting-age population using Maptitude in evaluating certain challenged districts. Finally, the Court used ESRI Redistricting, also acquired by the Court, to generate compactness scores using compactness measurements of Reock and Area/Convex Hull, compactness measures that were used by the House in its plan data reports. The controversy between the parties, set forth primarily by the House and Senate, is that no conclusion as to intent to favor a political party or incumbent can be made. The challengers contend that this Court is able to perform its review based on an assessment of statistical analysis, a visual examination of the plans, and an evaluation of legislative history. The challengers contend that this evidence will enable the Court to discern intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent because intent can be inferred from effect. We will discuss these arguments in more detail when we analyze the specific standards and apply them to the House and Senate plans. Finally, we have the guidance of the many state courts that have similar provisions providing their respective state supreme courts with original jurisdiction. Those courts have, over the years, both validated and invalidated plans based on many of the same criteria now contained in Florida’s constitution. As in those states, the Florida Constitution “expressly entrusts to this Court the responsibility, upon proper petition, to review the constitutionality of districting plans prepared and enacted by the political branches of government and the duty to provide appropriate relief when the plans are determined to violate the United States and [Florida] Constitutions.” In re Legislative Districting of State, 370 Md. 312, 805 A.2d 292, 316 (2002). With our important responsibility to ensure that the joint resolution of apportionment comports with both the United States and Florida Constitutions, and with full awareness of the inherent limitations in the process set out in the state constitution, we undertake our constitutionally mandated review of the facial validity of the Senate and House plans contained within Senate Joint Resolution 1176. B. The Standards Governing Our Analysis Although this is the fifth time the Court has had the responsibility to undertake its constitutionally mandated review of legislative apportionment, it is the first time that the Court has been charged with defining and applying the criteria of article III, section 21. This Court’s interpretation of the language contained in sections 16(a) and 21 of article III begins with the basic principles spelled out by this Court in its 1972 apportionment decision: Every word of the Florida Constitution should be given its intended meaning and effect. In construing constitutions, that construction is favored which gives effect to every clause and every part of it. A construction which would leave without effect any part of the language used should be rejected if an interpretation can be found which gives it effect. In re Apportionment Law-1972, 263 So.2d at 807. In accord with those tenets of constitutional construction, this Court “endeavors to construe a constitutional provision consistent with the intent of the framers and the voters.” Zingale, 885 So.2d at 282 (quoting Caribbean Conservation Corp., 838 So.2d at 501). In ascertaining the intent of the voters, the Court may examine “the purpose of the provision, the evil sought to be remedied, and the circumstances leading to its inclusion in our constitutional document,” In re Apportionment Law-1982, 414 So.2d at 1048, with the view that a constitutional amendment must be assessed “in light of the historical development of the decisional law extant at the time of its adoption.” Jenkins v. State, 385 So.2d 1356, 1357 (Fla.1980). Guided by both this Court’s precedent and a proper construction of the pertinent provisions contained within article III, we must determine whether the Legislature’s joint resolution is facially consistent with the specific constitutionally mandated criteria under the federal and state constitutions. The Federal Equal Protection Clause requires that districts conform to the one-person, one-vote standard. Article III, section 16(a), requires the Legislature to apportion both the Senate and the House in “consecutively numbered ... districts of either contiguous, overlapping or identical territory.” The new standards enumerated in article III, section 21, are set forth in two tiers, each of which contains three requirements. The first tier, contained in section 21(a), lists the following requirements: (1) no apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; (2) districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and (3) districts shall consist of contiguous territory. See art. Ill, § 21(a), Fla. Const. The second tier, located in section 21(b), enumerates three additional requirements in drawing district lines, the compliance with which is subordinate to those listed in the first tier of section 21 and to federal law in the event of conflict: (1) districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; (2) districts shall be compact; and (3) where feasible, districts shall utilize existing political and geographical boundaries. See art. Ill, § 21(b), Fla. Const. The order in which the constitution lists the standards in tiers one and two is “not [to] be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that [tier].” Art. Ill, § 21(c), Fla. Const. We interpret the specific constitutional directive that tier two is subordinate to tier one in the event of conflict to mean that the Legislature’s obligation is to draw legislative districts that comport with all of the requirements enumerated in Florida’s constitution. However, should a conflict in application arise, the Legislature is obligated to adhere to the requirements of section 21(a) (tier one) and then comply with the considerations in section 21(b) (tier two) to the extent “practicable” or “feasible,” depending on the wording of the specific constitutional standard. With this basic framework in mind, we interpret the standards, beginning with the newly enacted tier-one standards and then moving to the newly enacted tier-two standards. After we explain and interpret the standards, we set forth how the standards interact for purposes of evaluating the apportionment plans. 1. Tier-One Standards a. Intent to Favor or Disfavor a Political Party or an Incumbent The first of the new and significantly different requirements in our state constitution is the provision in article III, section 21(a), providing that “[n]o apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.” Although this requirement is entirely new to this state, at least five other states share a similar constitutional or statutory requirement. Florida’s constitutional provision, like the constitutional provision requiring protection of racial and language minorities against discrimination, is a tier-one requirement under the state constitution, meaning that the voters placed this constitutional imperative as a top priority to which the Legislature must conform during the redistricting process. This new requirement in Florida prohibits what has previously been an acceptable practice, such as favoring incumbents and the political party in power. See, e.g., In re Apportionment Law-1992, 597 So.2d at 285. The desire of a political party to provide its representatives with an advantage in reapportionment is not a Republican or Democratic tenet, but applies equally to both parties. Thus, in 1992, when the Democrats were in control of the Legislature and, by default, the redistricting process, we rejected a claim of impermissible political gerrymandering, stating in full: Finally, several of the opponents observe that the Joint Resolution is nothing more than a gerrymandering effort by the Democratic majority of the legislature to protect Democratic incumbents. We have little doubt that politics played a large part in the adoption of this plan. However, the protection of incumbents, standing alone, is not illegal, and none of the opponents seriously contend that the Joint Resolution is invalid because of political gerrymandering. Id. A decade later, when faced with a claim that the Republican majority of the Legislature had improperly limited input from Democratic members, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida similarly observed that the “raw exercise of majority legislative power does not seem to be the best way of conducting a critical task like redistricting, but it does seem to be an unfortunate fact of political life around the country.” Martinez v. Bush, 234 F.Supp.2d 1275, 1297 (S.D.Fla.2002). “The term ‘political gerrymander’ has been defined as ‘[t]he practice of dividing a geographical area into electoral districts, often of highly irregular shape, to give one political party an unfair advantage by diluting the opposition’s voting strength.’” Vieth v. Jubelirer, 541 U.S. 267, 271 n. 1, 124 S.Ct. 1769, 158 L.Ed.2d 546 (2004) (plurality opinion) (quoting Black’s Law Dictionary 696 (7th ed. 1999)). While some states have sought to minimize the political nature of the apportionment process by establishing independent redistricting commissions to redraw legislative districts, Florida voters have instead chosen to place restrictions on the Legislature by constitutional mandate in a manner similar to the constitutions of other states. The Florida Constitution now expressly prohibits what the United States Supreme Court has in the past termed a proper, and inevitable, consideration in the apportionment process. See, e.g., Vieth, 541 U.S. at 286, 124 S.Ct. 1769 (plurality opinion) (“[Pjartisan districting is a lawful and common practice.... ”); Miller v. Johnson, 515 U.S. 900, 914, 115 S.Ct. 2475, 132 L.Ed.2d 762 (1995) (“[Rjedistricting in most cases will implicate a political calculus in which various interests compete for recognition....”). Florida’s express constitutional standard, however, differs from equal protection political gerrymandering claims under either the United States or Florida Constitutions. Political gerrymandering claims under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution focus on determining when partisan districting as a permissible exercise “has gone too far,” Vieth, 541 U.S. at 296, 124 S.Ct. 1769 (plurality opinion), so as to “degrade a voter’s or a group of voters’ influence on the political process as a whole.” Bandemer, 478 U.S. at 132, 106 S.Ct. 2797 (plurality opinion); see also Fla. Senate v. Forman, 826 So.2d 279 (Fla.2002) (relying on the Bandemer test for political gerrymandering claims under Florida’s equal protection clause and overturning trial court finding of political gerrymandering). In contrast to the federal equal protection standard applied to political gerrymandering, the Florida Constitution prohibits drawing a plan or district with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent; there is no acceptable level of improper intent. It does not reference the word “invidious” as the term has