Legislation is needed to establish an independent redistricting commission in lieu of the current system in which the S.C. General Assembly takes sole responsibility for drawing voting district lines for the S.C. House, Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
South Carolina needs an independent commission with public participation (public hearings) and clear criteria for the selection of district boundaries:
- Population equality
- Racial & linguistic minority representation
- Geographically contiguous & compact to the greatest extent possible
- Geographic integrity – respecting cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods to the extent possible
- Eliminating incumbent and partisan protection as criteria for redistricting
