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After 2020, SC Statehouse has a pile of election reform bills from Republicans and Democrats

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

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The Post & Courier

Columbia, January 15 - There are more than two dozen bills to change South Carolina election laws filed by Statehouse Republicans and Democrats waiting to be acted upon this session. Voting rights organizations like the League of Women Voters support some tenets of the Republican-backed legislation, including provisions to increase transparency within county election offices and expand oversight of the Election Commission. However, the League’s main lobbyist in Columbia, Lynn Teague, says much of the language in bills to purge the voter rolls or enact restrictions on absentee balloting could potentially disenfranchise voters.

Proposed Congressional District Map Shifts Pee Dee Region But Sees Public Support

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

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abc15 News

Thursday, Senators took a look for the first time at an option to redraw the Congressional districts that would greatly split the Pee Dee region. District 7 is the newest territory for South Carolina. Under the 2nd map amendment before the Senate Redistricting Subcommittee, the lines would be redrawn pushing most of the Pee Dee back into District 5. The coastal counties would shift and District 7 would cut into the SC Lowcountry including most of Berkley County and a majority of Dorchester County. "On the whole, I think it is very true to communities of interest," said Lynn Teague with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of South Carolina.

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

Testimony

Of the two very different proposals under consideration by this Subcommittee, Amendment 2 shows that by doing so it is possible to keep both Charleston and Beaufort counties whole in CD 1 while meeting equal population requirements. The resulting district is highly competitive,

We ask you to consider Amendment 2, the LWVSC proposal submitted to you, and other options that are less damaging to voter rights and to reasonable political dialogue than Amendment 1. Please reject the temptation to prevent voters from choosing their representative in November.

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

Blog Post

Urgent need for testimony! The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Redistricting Subcommittee will meet on January 13, 12:00 p.m., to review and receive testimony on two proposed Congressional plans.

House Congressional Plan 2 Senate Amendment 1 is a revision of the original Senate offering. It fragments the area around Charleston along racial lines to yield no South Carolina districts that would be competitive in November.

House Congressional Plan 2 Senate Amendment 2 is a major revision that provides two competitive Congressional districts and respects major communities of interest.

Congressional Map Likely to Leave SC with No Competitive Seats Advanced by House Panel

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

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The Herald and The State

A panel of South Carolina House lawmakers on Monday advanced a congressional redistricting plan that closely resembles the Senate’s much-maligned earlier proposal and would likely transform the 1st Congressional District into a solidly Republican seat.

“I think it’s extremely unfortunate,” said Lynn Teague, vice president for issues and action with the League of Women Voters of South Carolina. Teague, speaking for the organization, last month criticized the plan as “an obvious racial and partisan gerrymander” that should be rejected.

Will New Maps Make It Safer for GOP in 2022?

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

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The State newspaper

After taking public testimony last month on two very different congressional map proposals, a panel of South Carolina House lawmakers will decide Monday which, if either, they favor.

Lynn Teague, LWVSC Vice President, Issues and Advocacy, criticized the alternative House proposal for splitting Black communities in Richland and Sumter counties, but said its most egregious racial gerrymander was in the Lowcountry, where predominantly Black enclaves of Charleston County are separated from largely white areas and slotted into the 6th District, a majority-minority district represented by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s sole Democratic House member.

South Carolina Republicans Want Judge Off Redistricting Case

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2022.

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The Post & Courier

South Carolina Republican legislative leaders want to toss a judge from a lawsuit over redistricting plans. The state House maps have been criticized by groups like the League of Women Voters and the NAACP as breaking up some like-minded communities to protect incumbents and ensure Republicans maintain their current balance of power.

South Carolina House Releases Another Congressional Map Proposal

Submitted by South Carolina in December 2021.

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The News & Observer

South Carolina lawmakers heard public testimony Wednesday over a proposal to redraw the state's U.S. House districts that scales back the sweeping changes suggested in an earlier map. “We believe that it is an obvious racial and partisan gerrymander and should be rejected,” Lynn Teague. LWVSC VP, Issues & Action, said of the new map.

Battle of Congressional District Lines Continues in SC with Public Hearing Wednesday

Submitted by South Carolina in December 2021.

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ABC News 4

New SC House proposed maps bring major changes to Congressional Districts 1 and 6, which are centered in the Lowountry.

The League of Women Voters claims that these new lines will have District 1 at a 14 percent partisan gap, which it says is highly non-competitive. If these new maps were passed, it would leave District 1 with only a 16 percent African American population, which they claim is not representative of the community in the Lowcountry.

SC’s New House Map Is Unconstitutional, Racially Discriminatory, Lawsuit Claims

Submitted by South Carolina in December 2021.

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The State newspaper

A new federal lawsuit alleges South Carolina’s redrawn state House districts continue the state's "shameful history and ongoing record of discrimination" by intentionally diluting the power of Black voters.

The Dec. 24 complaint, filed by a team of lawyers from across the country on behalf of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP and a Beaufort County resident, marks the sixth consecutive redistricting cycle in which the state's maps have been challenged as unconstitutional.

“Defendants traded one constitutional violation — malapportionment — for two others: racial gerrymandering and intentional racial discrimination,” the suit alleges, while asserting that the U.S. congressional districts, which lawmakers have not yet redrawn, remain malapportioned.

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