Disappointing session brought on by radical gerrymandering

Disappointing session brought on by radical gerrymandering

Type: 
Press Mention
Date of Release or Mention: 
Friday, May 5, 2023

By Andy Brack

It’s been a fairly disappointing legislative session for many because it’s been all about controlling people or extending privilege, not working collaboratively to benefit all South Carolinians. But that was fairly predictable after years of gerrymandering finally resulted in a super-majority in the South Carolina House and a Senate chamber that is more partisan and divided than ever in recent memory.

Lynn Teague, LWVSC VP, Issues & Action, noted: “Our legislature is behaving just as a heavily gerrymandered body would be expected to act — their priorities are often those of the small segment of the electorate that turns out for partisan primaries.”

In other words, those in the legislature want to control girls and women.  They want trans kids and LGBTQ+ taxpayers to suffer.  They want to increase control of teachers in public schools, she said.  

“This is out of step with every reputable poll of what South Carolinians as a whole want. This is why the General Assembly refuses to send some issues to a public vote in a referendum — they know that the people of South Carolina don’t want what some of them are selling.”

The old phrase is “power to the people.”  We need more of that than authoritarian “power to the General Assembly.”

Read the full article at the link above. 

 

League to which this content belongs: 
South Carolina