MIAMI -- A federal appeals court has upheld a Florida constitutional amendment imposing new rules on how congressional districts are redrawn.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a Miami federal judge that voters have the power through a referendum to control how the districts are designed. The judges rejected an appeal from U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami and Corinne Brown of Jacksonville claiming that only the Legislature had that power.

Florida voters in 2010 approved Amendment 6 with more than 60 percent of the vote. Among other things, it requires that boundaries be drawn so that no political party or incumbent is favored and so that they are compact rather than sprawling.

The intent was to prevent so-called gerrymandering of districts for political advantage.