Republicans in South Carolina emerge victorious in voting map dispute

The Supreme Court handed a victory to South Carolina Republicans on Thursday by ruling against a challenge to an electoral map they created that involved moving 30,000 Black residents out of a congressional district.

The justices overturned a lower court decision that found the Republican-drawn map violated the rights of Black voters under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

Due to the time it took for the Supreme Court to act, the lower court ruled on March 28 that the disputed map can be used in this year’s congressional elections, potentially impacting the Democrats’ chances of gaining control of the House.

This case was closely monitored leading up to the November 5 U.S. election, in which the presidency and control of both chambers of Congress would be determined. With Democrats aiming to regain control of the House, every competitive district is crucial to the outcome.

Currently, Republicans hold a 217-213 majority in the House, and ongoing legal battles over redistricting in several states could sway the election in favor of one party.

The legal battle in South Carolina focused on a map approved in 2022 by the Republican-led state legislature, which altered the boundaries of one of the state’s seven U.S. House districts, including parts of Charleston along the Atlantic coast.

A three-judge panel in January 2023 ruled that the map unlawfully categorized voters by race and deliberately divided Black neighborhoods in Charleston County in a “stark racial gerrymander.”

Gerrymandering involves manipulating electoral district boundaries to marginalize certain voters while enhancing the influence of others. In this case, the state legislature was accused of racial gerrymandering to diminish the impact of Black voters, who typically support Democratic candidates.

The redrawing of legislative district boundaries across the country is based on population changes identified in the U.S. government’s census conducted every ten years. In most states, redistricting is done by the party in power.

The new map in South Carolina increased the district’s white voter percentage while reducing the Black voter percentage, prompting the lower court to refer to it as “bleaching.”

The map transferred 30,000 Black residents from the 1st congressional district to the adjacent 6th congressional district, which extends 125 miles inland from Charleston. These voters were deemed “exiled” unlawfully by the three-judge panel.

The 6th district, held by Democrat Jim Clyburn for the past three decades, is the only House district in South Carolina represented by a Democrat.

Prior to redistricting, Republican Nancy Mace narrowly defeated an incumbent Democrat in 2020 by just over 1 percentage point. With the new boundaries, Mace won reelection in 2022 by a 14-point margin.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in October and parties involved urged for a decision before the end of 2023.

In a separate redistricting ruling on May 15, the Supreme Court restored a Louisiana electoral map with two Black-majority U.S. House districts, rather than one in the previous version. The temporary halt of a lower court’s decision allows the new map to be used in this year’s election.