SC state Sen. Brad Hutto explains the process to a redistricting vote
South Carolina Sen. Brad Hutto, District 40, talks about the lengthy process of getting to a redistricting vote
- The South Carolina state senate passed a second reading of a bill to establish new Congressional lines.
- The Senate will not finalize the bill until after early voting for the primary has already begun.
- Some Republican senators have indicated they may not support passing the bill after voting has started.
- Opponents warn that passing the new lines after voting starts could lead to a costly lawsuit against the state.
The South Carolina Senate passed a second reading of a bill to establish new Congressional lines in the state, but the bill will not be finalized until after early voting starts.
State Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, made a motion to take a second vote on a redistricting bill in the afternoon on Saturday, May 23, and the vote passed 27-17. At Massey’s request, the Senate will reconvene at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, the first day of early voting.
Prior to Massey’s motion, senators expected to have a long day of debates on Saturday, and expected to be back at the statehouse on Sunday, May 24 for more discussions. Massey’s move makes it so the Senate will not meet in-person until after early voting starts, which could flip some Republican senators against the measure.
Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, has been a proponent of the redistricting bill, but he told reporters on Friday, May 22 that he doesn’t support redrawing congressional lines after early voting starts — and he expects some other Republicans feel the same.
“There are other members like me who are very supportive of this legislation, but not very supportive of passing this legislation after tens of thousands of South Carolinians have already cast votes in-person,” Grooms said on May 22.
Some Republican lawmakers pushed for redistricting efforts at the urging of President Donald Trump, who has called for legislatures to redraw their congressional maps to favor Republican candidates since last summer. The South Carolina push was propelled by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that undermined protections on minority voting districts by deeming Louisiana’s congressional map unconstitutional.
The South Carolina redistricting push came about with just days left in legislative session and about two weeks before the start of early voting. Gov. Henry McMaster ended up calling the legislature into special session on May 14 so lawmakers could continue redistricting and budget talks.
Sen. Jason Elliott, R-Greenville, voted for second reading of the redistricting bill. He said redistricting is a political exercise, and this year’s efforts are about determining who controls the U.S. House for the last two years of the Trump administration.
“If Democrats controlled the U.S. House of Representatives, that will have a tremendous impact on the Republican and Trump administration agenda for the last two years of the Trump presidency,” Elliott said. “That’s why it’s happening now.”
The South Carolina House of Representatives approved their version of a redistricting bill on May 20.
Primary election day for all state races is on Tuesday, June 9, but the passage of the redistricting bill would move the congressional primaries until Aug. 18. If the state holds a special congressional primary, any ballots cast for a U.S. House of Representatives candidate in the June 9 elections will not be counted. The other races on a voter’s ballot will be unaffected by redistricting.
Some senators have expressed concerns that waiting until early voting starts to pass new congressional lines is too late.
Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, warned during a long Senate speech that passing new congressional lines after the start of early voting will open the state up to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. He thinks that the state supreme court would side against the legislature if that happens.
“We are going to lose that case,” Campson said.
Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com
