The Post & Courier

Why are we back in court? The S.C. Constitution is more explicit in defining voting rights than the U.S. Constitution. SC guarantees “free and open elections” and an “equal right to elect officers.” Partisan gerrymanders are a problem that not only can —but must —be addressed by our state judiciary.

South Carolina Daily Gazette

A voter advocacy group is asking the state Supreme Court to rule on whether South Carolina’s redrawn congressional maps violate the state constitution. "It’s about not only equal access to the ballot box but ensuring that all ballots cast hold equal weight, said Lynn Teague of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina. “That doesn’t happen when you have gerrymandering,” she said. “You need to have meaningful representation of the population that’s there.”

AP News

A group that works to protect and expand voting rights is asking South Carolina’s highest court to order lawmakers to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts because they lean too far Republican. The lawsuit by the League of Women Voters is using testimony and evidence from that case to argue that the U.S. House districts violate the South Carolina constitution’s requirement for free and open elections and that all people are protected equally under the law.

On Monday, July 29, the League of Women Voters became plaintiff in a lawsuit filed with the South Carolina Supreme Court by ACLU and the Duffy and Young law firm. This suit, LWVSC v. Thomas Alexander, asks the Court to exercise original jurisdiction to recognize protection against partisan gerrymander in the South Carolina Constitution, and to invalidate the existing Congressional map as inconsistent with those protections.