SC election officials preparing to use contested voting maps in 2022 elections
A federal lawsuit that alleges South Carolina’s new state House and congressional maps intentionally discriminate against Black voters is unlikely to prevent those maps from being used in this year’s elections.
Lawyers for the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, which last October filed suit against state Republican leaders and the election commission, originally had hoped for a ruling on the maps ahead of this year’s election cycle, but are no longer seeking court-ordered changes to voter districts in 2022, according to recent filings.
The shift in approach comes due to the “crushing discovery burden” placed on the parties and a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling out of Alabama that called into question the high court’s willingness to let judges change voting maps so close to an election, an NAACP lawyer wrote in his Feb. 15 request to reschedule upcoming trial dates.
While a settlement agreement to redraw parts of either map could conceivably be reached ahead of the upcoming candidate filing period that begins March 16, state election officials view that as increasingly unlikely.
As a result, they are proceeding as if the newly adopted lines will stand this year and planning to hold elections as scheduled, State Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said.
That means the candidate filing period would run from March 16 to March 30, with statewide primaries held June 14 and the general election on Nov. 8.
“Prior to (last week), we recognized a possibility — and arguably a likelihood — that things could be delayed,” Whitmire said. “We think that’s not likely now.”
The Election Commission last Wednesday sent a memo to county boards of election notifying them of developments in the redistricting case and ordering them to move forward with implementation of the recently adopted maps.
“All counties should proceed to implement new district lines as are required under the current law with the expectation that those boundaries will be in place for the 2022 elections,” the memo states.
A trial on the contested state House map that was scheduled to begin next week has been postponed so the parties can discuss settlement plans.
In the event a settlement cannot be reached, the parties have jointly asked the court to set a mid-May trial date for the state House case and a late September trial on the congressional map.
The South Carolina NAACP’s lawsuit alleges Republican state lawmakers used race as the primary factor in drawing certain districts to dilute the voting power of Black residents in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
It challenges 29 of the 124 recently adopted state House districts and the redrawn 1st, 2nd and 5th congressional districts, which state lawmakers adopted over the concerns of public interest groups, such as the ACLU and League of Women Voters of South Carolina.
Republicans have denied any racial motivations factored into their map designs.
A three-judge panel of Michelle Childs, Toby Heytens and Richard Gergel are slated to rule on both cases. Childs, a federal appeals court nominee who is under consideration to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, is the presiding judge.
If the panel rules in favor of the NAACP, the state could be forced to redraw voting lines for future elections and hold special elections in districts found to have been unconstitutionally drawn.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "SC election officials preparing to use contested voting maps in 2022 elections."