Voting Group Petitions S. Carolina Court to Redraw Politically Skewed House Districts

Republican-leaning House Districts Triggered the Move

A consortium ardently committed to safeguarding and bolstering voting rights has directed a request at the Supreme Court of South Carolina. The group is urging the court to issue a directive enforcing the revision of the state’s House districts, citing bias resulting from their leaning excessively toward the Republican side.

SC Congressional Map Previously Upheld

Two months ago, the congressional map of South Carolina was given the green light in a 6-3 verdict by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that the state General Assembly had not used race to determine boundaries based on the 2020 Census data. These freshly approved maps solidified furthermore the 6-1 U.S. House advantage held by Republicans. This occurred after Democrats had surprisingly gained a seat a couple of years before.

South Carolina Constitution Violated

According to the League of Women Voters, which initiated the lawsuit, the districts for the U.S. House infringe upon the South Carolina constitution’s stipulation for free and accessible elections. They also contest that all people must be treated uniformly under the law. In the words of Allen Chaney, legal director of the South Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) currently managing the lawsuit, manipulation of district boundaries is tantamount to cheating. He says this manipulation is conducted to give one party significantly more political power than what would normally result from voting protocols.

“Restoring Representative Democracy”

“South Carolina voters deserve to vote with their neighbors and have their votes carry the same weight. This case is about restoring representative democracy in South Carolina, and I am hopeful that the South Carolina Supreme Court will do just that”, Chaney said in an official statement.

Republican-dominated Leadership Targets of the Lawsuit

The lawsuit has been lodged against top figureheads in both the state Senate and state House, which house a Republican majority and gave their approval to the new maps in January 2022. Republican House Speaker, Murrell Smith, responded in a statement, decrying the lawsuit as yet another bid by vested interests to accomplish through the courts what they failed to achieve at the polling stations.

Allegations of Improper Division of Districts

Accusations leveled by the suit say that the South Carolina lawmakers divided counties, cities, and communities to ensure that Republican voters were factored into the 1st District, the area extending from Charleston to Beaufort. The region was switched by a Democrat in 2018 before being reclaimed by Republican Nancy Mace in 2020.

Democrats Cramped into 6th District

Democrats, who lean towards voting for their own party, were shifted into the 6th District, which was demarcated to accommodate a majority of minority voters. The district encompasses both downtown Charleston and Columbia, a span that exceeds two hours of driving distance and shares very little in common.

Request for Direct Supreme Court Involvement

The ACLU is urging the state Supreme Court to directly address the lawsuit, sidestepping preliminary hearings and trials at a lower court. The rights organization cited similar rulings made on the language in the state constitutions of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico. The courts there had determined that drawing congressional districts primarily to safeguard power for a single political party violated the principle of equal protection and the right to free and fair elections.