A Florida appeals court has reversed a lower court finding that the state’s congressional map signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis flies in the face of the state constitution because it diminishes the voting power of Black Floridians.

The state’s First District Court of Appeal handed down the decision on Dec. 1, concluding that the dismantling of a Black-majority congressional district in northern Florida does not conflict with the Fair Districts constitutional amendment passed in 2010. That constitutional provision protects opportunities for racial or language minorities to elect representatives of their choice.

The appeals court said the issue could be resolved through a single question: Can a redistricting plan diminish the ability of members of a racial minority to elect lawmakers without plaintiffs first showing that they are part of a “geographically discrete and compact minority community of historically natural existence?”