South Carolina state senators rejected a proposal to redraw congressional districts mid-decade, voting 26-18 in a special session. The rejected plan would have canceled the election already underway after early voting began and rescheduled it using new district lines that would have reduced reliably Democratic voters in Congressman Jim Clyburn’s district. The effort aligned with broader Republican attempts to redraw districts to protect a slim House majority, leveraging a Supreme Court ruling that weakened minority protections under the Voting Rights Act. Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats to block passage after the state House sent the bill to the senate. Senators criticized the process, including a map created by a Washington DC consultant with limited input from South Carolinians and minimal opportunity for questions.
"In a 26-18 vote, state senators rejected mid-decade redistricting in a special session of the legislature, ending hope in Washington to split up congressman Jim Clyburn's district and add to the list of gerrymandered gains for Republicans. The proposal would have canceled the congressional election under way early voting began Tuesday morning and rescheduled it with new district lines that would have significantly reduced the number of reliably Democratic voters in Clyburn's district."
"It comes as Republicans push to redraw voting districts to the party's advantage in a bid to preserves its slim majority in the US House of Representatives, scrambling to leverage a recent US Supreme Court ruling that weakened minority protections under the federal Voting Rights Act. The South Carolina state senate is composed of 34 Republican senators and 12 Democratic senators. Fourteen Republicans voted with Democrats blocking passage of the redistricting bill, days after a supermajority of the South Carolina state House of Representatives voted to send it to the senate."
"Nineteen days ago, a map was generated by a consultant from Washington DC, without any input from South Carolinians, said state senator Tom Davis, a Republican from Beaufort and Jasper counties. We were told: pass this map. A short-circuited process led legislators to reject the proposal, he said. The consultant who drew the map spoke with legislators via Zoom from Washington DC for seven minutes and 40 seconds before leaving without taking questions, Davis said."
"Some senators said it was simply too late to make a change. South Carolina citizens are going to the polls to"
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]