South Carolinians rally at Statehouse to stop redistricting effort

MEDIA CONTACTS: Paul Bowers, [email protected]; Cate Mayer, [email protected]

UPDATE, MAY 14: Please note that the location has changed to the north grounds of the Statehouse.

COLUMBIA – South Carolinians will gather outside the Statehouse demanding that the governor and legislature stop the rush to redraw Congressional district maps.

WHAT: Rally Against Redistricting

WHEN: Thursday, May 14, at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: South Carolina Statehouse North Grounds (1100 Gervais St, Columbia)

Members of impacted communities from across South Carolina will lead the rally. Groups including the Legal Defense Fund, Be The Ones, SC Tenant Union, Black Voters Matter, Veterans for All Voters, and American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina will also be present (please note that this list is not exhaustive and may change).

Gov. Henry McMaster told the public on May 4 that he would not call a special session to redistrict. With the regular session set to end on May 14 at 5 p.m., South Carolinians are calling on the governor to stay true to his word and not call a special session until after the regularly scheduled June 9 primary.

Speakers will also bring a message to the legislature as a whole: Voters choose their elected officials, not the other way around.

In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais, states have entered a race to redraw Congressional maps. South Carolina lawmakers have joined that race, not at the prompting of new census data or their own voters, but under pressure from President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers in South Carolina have said their goal is to maximize the chances of Republican victory in all seven of the state’s Congressional districts. To accomplish this, they would radically re-align districts. Among other changes, Richland County would be split three ways, York County would be split between Rock Hill and Fort Mill, and some Charleston County voters would find themselves in a district with Myrtle Beach.

One effect of the proposed new maps would be to deny Black voters the ability to exert influence over members of South Carolina's Congressional delegation. Speakers at the rally will highlight the ways redistricting would harm democracy and affect the everyday lives of South Carolinians.

The current redistricting plan would also require the state to schedule a second primary, likely in August, creating chaos for voters and costing taxpayers millions of dollars. As state election officials have testified, hundreds of overseas voters have already mailed in their ballots for the regularly scheduled June 9 primary.