A federal court sent down a ruling Monday morning that says gerrymandering is unconstitutional and therefore, no longer allowed. Republicans have been scheming to sway the vote in the state of Florida by counting felons who can’t vote as nearly half of the voting population.

About 1,200 people who are legally not allowed to vote make up 43% of listed voters, which “inflates the political influence of the non-prison population of District 3 and dilutes the political influence of the rest of the county.” A lawsuit filed in March of 2015 stated that the gerrymandering of Florida prisons creates an unfair sway in votes.

Today the court finally ruled on that case and found that gerrymandering was, in fact, unconstitutional because it violates the “one person, one vote” principle in the 14th Amendment. The ruling found that gerrymandering weakened the votes of the residents who legally allowed to vote, and that, while clever, is not a political trick they will continue to allow.

Civil liberties attorney, Nancy Abudu represented the residents of Jefferson County in the lawsuit and made this statement about the impact that gerrymandering had on the resident’s lives:

“If I want to get a road fixed, if I want a law changed, if I want more impact on a school board member or county commissioner, I have more power because my representative has to deal with fewer people. It’s about access and the ability to influence, and making sure officials are responsive to their electorate.”

Abudu also mentioned the ridiculousness of counting inmates since most of them were arrested in other areas of the state and had been shipped there. If and when they are released, it is extremely likely the inmates would not continue to reside in the county. The ACLU claims that only 9 of the 1,200 people incarcerated were actually arrested in Jefferson County.

Abudu says that while gerrymandering may not even register as an issue in some places, “It skews the numbers so dramatically in this instance.” Abudu continued:

“They don’t finance the prison. The prison is run by the state. Even the little bit of services they provide, they get reimbursed for that. The county has no responsibility whatsoever for the operation of the prison. What we do know is that the inmates service the county through free labor. They have formal and informal contracts with the county to have the inmates fix up parks, clean roads, and do other work that the county would otherwise have to pay someone to do.”

The court agreed with Abudu and gerrymandering will no longer be allowed. If the county doesn’t file an appeal, they will have to redraw their voting maps before June. The GOP members in Jefferson county, Florida will be acting out via social media momentarily. Stay tuned..