League of Women Voters ^®
of South Carolina

The Post & Courier

Columbia, December 19 - The redrawn election lines for South Carolina legislators give more power to the coast and also to the suburbs of Charlotte where population ballooned over the last decade, while further depleting the influence of rural communities. This informative article highlights the changes and implications, with comments by Lynn Teague, LWVSC Vice President, Issues & Advocacy.

The News & Observer

The House's Congressional plan is not one we can be enthusiastic about. Teague said she disagreed with the proposal to extend the 5th District into Richland County, noting that district has become dominated by the suburbs south of Charlotte, North Carolina, which is “a very different area.” The House plan for the 6th District also creates an unnecessary minority population imbalance,

The State newspaper

The LWVSC is not enthusiastic about the SC House's proposed  Congressional map because it doesn’t honor communities of interest. The plan significantly alters district lines in Richland County and the Lowcountry, but does so without addressing concerns about the amorphous 6th District, which still stretches from Columbia to Charleston. We believe they need a map that respects the communities of interest, and doing that will keep Charleston County whole.

Both the Senate and House maps are shaped in part by demographics that lead to many non-competitive districts in SC. The Senate map shows some effects from incumbent and partisan considerations. However, it is drawn with reasonable concern for communities of interest and it doesn’t reduce the number of competitive districts. However, the lack of competition that begins in population distributions is greatly amplified in the House map. This lack of competition is a very serious threat to representative democracy.