To the Editor:
For too long, the shape of Miami’s political map has determined the shape of our democracy. Lines drawn in back rooms have divided neighborhoods, weakened communities, and silenced voices that deserved to be heard.
As someone who has lived and worked in this city for decades, I’ve seen how those lines were used not just to define districts — but to deny representation.
Many residents will remember when the City Commission split Coconut Grove among three commissioners, or when one district stretched like a corridor to connect a commissioner to his Little Havana base.
Those maps were later challenged in court, and the federal judiciary confirmed that the City of Miami had violated the Voting Rights Act by racially gerrymandering its own residents.
Out of that hard-fought struggle came a settlement and, now, a path forward: Referendum 3, the “Fair Maps” amendment on this year’s city ballot.
If approved, it will ban gerrymandering in the City Charter, create a Citizens’ Redistricting Committee, and establish a fair, transparent process for drawing commission districts after each census.
In plain language, that means no more maps drawn to protect incumbents or punish communities. It means sunlight, accountability, and citizen oversight where secrecy once ruled.
This reform didn’t appear overnight. It’s the result of years of work by people across this city — neighbors who stood before the Commission, wrote letters, contributed their time and resources, and refused to accept that the rights of Black voters and other communities could be traded away for political convenience. Their persistence brought Miami to this moment.
Now it’s up to all of us to make that progress permanent. A Yes vote on Referendum 3 closes a painful chapter in our city’s history and opens a better one — one where every voice counts and every neighborhood belongs.
Let’s stand together for fairness and integrity. Vote Yes on 3.
Reynold Martin
Grove Rights and Community Equity (GRACE)
Coconut Grove
