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Redistricting in South Carolina
From Ballotpedia
| South Carolina | |
 | |
| General Information | |
| Process: | Legislative Authority |
| Deadline: | None |
| Total Seats to be Drawn | |
| Congress: | 7 |
| State Senate: | 46 |
| State House: | 124 |
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Contents |
In 2010, South Carolina received one additional seat in the Congressional reapportionment. The Palmetto State will draw a seventh district during the redistricting process.
The legislature held a special session from June 15-30 to conduct redistricting.
Update: Governor Haley signed the Congressional map on August 1, 2011.
Process
In South Carolina, the Legislature is responsible for re-drawing Congressional and state legislative district boundaries. The governor has veto-authority over the plans.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will set criteria for new zones.[1]
The Senate agreed to a district variance of 5 percent.[2]
Senate redistricting guidelines include six additional categories beyond federal requirements. Those six are:
- Communities of Interest
- Constituent Consistency
- Not Dividing County Boundaries
- Not Dividing Municipal Boundaries
- Voting Precinct Boundaries
- District compactness
House Democrats hired Matthew Richardson to serve as legal representation in any redistricting dispute.[3]
Leadership
2011 Senate subcommittee
The Judiciary committee of the Senate created a 7-member subcommittee on redistricting. Members are:[5]
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Senator McConnell said he plans to have the redistricting process completed before June 2011.[6] Additionally, he is hopeful that a plan can be finalized without any court involvement this time around. "Many observers take for granted a cynical and partisan redistricting process. I don't believe it needs to be that way," McConnell said.[7]
Special session
A spokesperson for Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell, Jr. (R) said the South Carolina General Assembly will likely return in August to complete the redistricting process. Currently, the 2011 legislative session is slated to end on June 3.[8]
Census results
The 2010 census indicated South Carolina's population grew by 15.3 percent to 4.6 million. That is good for the 10th-fastest growing state in the decade.[9] This has resulted in the state receiving an additional House seat, increasing the state's representation from 6 to 7.[10]
In 2011, Horry County and the upstate displayed population increases and are candidates to receive an extra seat. "There'll be some wrangling over who in the growth areas warrants getting these extra seats," said state Senator Luke Rankin (R).[11] Horry County may receive not just an additional Congressional district, but also another state house seat.[12]
Based on the local census data, it is likely that Horry County is the front-runner to land the 7th Congressional District. "This is going to present significant challenges. There will be members who, ultimately, lose their district. Redistricting is the most raw, political thing that happens in the General Assembly," said House representative Alan Clemmons (R), chairman of the House subcommittee tasked with drawing new lines.[13]
Additionally, most of the State House and Senate districts that are majority-minority are under-populated from the ideal sizes of 37,301 and 100,551. "It gets more difficult to draw safe African-American districts. We saw this coming. It may make us all different politicians," said senator Darrell Jackson (D).[13]
Voting Rights Act
South Carolina is one of 16 states that in some capacity must obtain federal approval of its redistricting plans. The last two redistricting efforts both ended up in federal court. However, some South Carolinians are in favor of exempting the Palmetto State from requiring federal approval. Larry Kobrovsky -- who ran unsuccessfully for the 1st Congressional District against Timothy Scott -- said he plans to sue the federal government to have the Voting Rights Act repealed (at least as it pertains to South Carolina). Kobrovsky cites the fact that South Carolina recently elected two new minority candidates to high ranking positions -- Nikki Haley, the newly elected Governor, and Scott.[14]
Congressional Maps
Top Ten Ranking
According to a report in the Washington Post political blog "The Fix," South Carolina is home one of the top ten redistricting battles in the nation, ranking eighth on the list. Illinois ranked first.[15]
The new district could split the Greenville and Spartanburg counties.[1] Horry County representatives are pushing for the new district to be centered in their region.[11] However, the Voting Rights Act requires that South Carolina districts receive federal approval. The Department of Justice might insist on a second majority-minority district being created, in addition to the one currently represented by Jim Clyburn.[1] One possibility proposed early on was that Beaufort County would join the 1st Congressional District -- forming one long coastal district. Currently, Beaufort is represented by Joe Wilson and is party of a district that stretches up to Lexington in the middle of the state.[16][17]
Representative James Harrison (R), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee said all of the House districts will show substantial change, reflected by growth throughout the state.[18] Horry, Charleston, Beaufort and York counties are pegged as the early sites of population growth in the state.[19]
Scott Huffmon, political scientist at Winthrop University, said "This is an absolutely partisan, gerrymandering free-for-all."[19]
Proposed maps
In May 2011, the Senate and House committees accepted citizen-generated maps. See figures 3-8 below for some of those maps, which were submitted by the following:
- ACLU
- A citizen, "Kuhn"
- U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn
- NAACP
- U.S. Representatives Mick Mulvaney and Joe Wilson
On May 18, 2011, the House released its draft map. [20] The proposed map (Figure 1) anchors the new 7th Congressional District in Horry County. Additionally, it would split Greenville County between the 3rd and 4th Congressional districts.[21] The map would split Beaufort County at the Whale Branch river, giving the coastal county two Congressional representatives. However, Senator Tom Davis -- who represents the region -- said he would fight a map that split the county. "Under no circumstances do I think it's in our county's best interest to be split like that. Anything that serves to splinter our county into different regions, I'm going to oppose," he said.[22] Meanwhile, Joe Wilson would pick up all of Aiken County, which is currently split between himself and Jeff Duncan.[23]
House vs. Senate
On June 6, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee passed a plan to redraw the Congressional districts. The plan would add the newly created 7th District along the northeastern part of the state in Horry and Georgetown counties.[24] That map was passed by the full House on June 15, 2011.
On June 20, 2011, the South Carolina State Senate held a public input forum to gather reaction from citizens. Residents from throughout the state argued for their location as the central point of a new district. In particular, some residents from Pee Dee took a chartered bus to Columbia for the meeting.[25]
However, the Senate was split over how the final map should look, which could ultimately mean the map will be drawn by a panel of three federal judges. On June 23, 2011, a map was passed out of committee after a 19-19 tied vote was broken by Lt. Governor Ken Ard (R). The plan advanced to the floor for debate. It would split parts of Spartanburg County between the 4th and 5th Congressional Districts. The new 7th District would be centered in Horry County.[26]
But on June 29, 2011, the Senate surprised onlookers by passing a map that places the new 7th District in the Lowcountry -- centered around Beaufort County. The vote was 22-20. Senate leadership called the map a "setback" because it did not line up with the House plan.[27]
The Senate map must now be reconciled with the House map.[28] Negotiations will occur and then the legislature will reconvene on July 26 to vote again.[29]
Maps defended
In advance of the redistricting session on July 26, 2011, Republican Senators Glenn McConnell and Larry Grooms -- essentially the designated spokespersons for the competing maps -- took to the media outlets to defend their maps. McConnell recommends passage of the map that centers the new 7th Congressional District in the "Pee Dee" region. Grooms meanwhile, backs the plan to construct the 7th Congressional District around Beaufort County. Both senators published editorials outlining their stance. Coincidentally -- or perhaps ironically -- both legislators described their plan as the "common sense" map.[30]
Congressional maps approved
On July 26, the South Carolina Legislature reached a compromise on the state's Congressional redistricting plan. After weeks of infighting, legislative Republicans in both chambers agreed on a plan for the US House District 7. Per the House plan, the district will center on the Pee Dee region, but will now include all of Georgetown county. The previous version of the plan split the county between Districts 6 and 7. The new District 7 is expected to favor Republicans. Former holdouts on the House plan expressed reservations about supporting the bill. Sen. Tom Davis (R) argued that adopting the House plan was better than leaving the process to the courts. He noted, "I would opt for the devil I know rather than the devil I don't know."[31] The redistricting bill passed 75-33 in the House and 24-16 in the Senate.[32]
On August 1, 2011, Governor Nikki Haley (R) signed the Congressional map. The new district is expected to be a "lock" for a GOP candidate.[33]
Protest petition
In August 2011, African-American leaders in the Greenville area launched a protest to get petition signatures that object to the splitting of Greenville County. About 55,000 Greenville County residents were moved to the 3rd Congressional District in the new map. The petition leaders said they may consider legal action pending the DOJ decision on preclearance of the map.[34]
Federal approval of map
On October 31, 2011, the Department of Justice approved the new Congressional map. Meanwhile, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Dick Harpootlian said a lawsuit will be filed within two weeks.[35]
Legislative Maps
Residents in Fort Mill and Tega Cay are requesting that their cities be drawn into combined state legislative districts. Several local residents have drafted a petition -- which has the support of Tega Cay and Fort Mill councils. One district involved is that of Ralph W. Norman (R), who says Fort Mill "controls this seat as it is now."[36]
Senator Brad Hutto (D), who serves on the redistricting subcommittee, said it is important to respect community ties. "To the extent we are able, I want to avoid voter confusion by keeping precinct lines as unchanged as possible. Neighborhoods and municipalities must be kept as whole as possible. There is no reason to divide a small town like Springfield or small counties like Saluda, which has three different Senate districts," Hutto said.[37]
Impact on White Democrats
Historically, South Carolina has been controlled by White Democrats. Even as recently as 50 years ago, all 124 House and all 46 Senate members were White Democrats. Currently, there are 10 White Democrats in the Senate and 19 White Democrats in the House. Heading into redistricting, there is speculation that even more White Democrats will be drawn out of districts.[4]
Democrats have raised $50,000 to use for drawing maps that would be pro-Democratic -- despite complete Republican control over the process.[4] Some African-American representatives -- like Bakari Sellers (D) and Leon Howard (D) -- have hinted at being willing to give up some of their district constituents in order to increase the likelihood of a White Democrat being elected in another district.[4] "When you make a rule that protects one group of legislators, even if it’s for a good reason, it will be at the expense of another group of legislators. In South Carolina, that’s white Democrats," said representative Ted Vick (D).[4]
This is contrary to the redistricting process of the 1990s, when the Legislative Black Caucus made deals with White House Republicans.[4] That deal helped Republicans take control of the House in 1994.[4]
One estimate is that the number of White Democrats in the state house will be cut in half.[38]
Upstate
Representative Thad Viers (R) discusses problems with gerrymandering. |
Four districts in the Rock Hill area are significantly over the ideal population size. Districts 45, 46, 47 and 48 will require alteration to accommodate population growth.[39]
House proposal
On May 20, 2011, the House released an initial version of the new maps. Under the proposal, District 10 -- which has been represented by House Ways and Means Chair [[Dan Cooper] since 1990 -- would be drawn into the 6th District, currently represented by Brian White (R). In April 2011, Cooper resigned from his seat, to be effective on June 29, 2011. He cited a desire to spend more time with his family.[40] Another alteration to the lower chamber's map would be an additional district in the Carolina Forest area of Horry County. District 56 would be largely shaped out of the existing District 105, in response to population growth in Horry.[41]
A plan for redrawing the 124 House districts was passed by the House Judiciary Committee on June 6, 2011.[24]
Senate map
A plan to redraw the state's 46 Senate districts has nine majority-minority districts -- which is one fewer than the current maps has. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a new map on June 9, 2011. While the ACLU has objected to the reduction of majority-minority districts, Senator Glenn McConnell said the map meets Voting Rights Act standards. "The problem is there's a whole chunk of population up there that's got to go somewhere. You cannot make race the primary and sole factor," he said.[42] One item not included in the committee-passed map is the combination of districts for Democratic senators Vincent Sheheen and Creighton Coleman. The South Carolina Republican Party proposed merging the two districts which could conceivably force Sheheen -- who lost by a slim margin in the race for governor to Nikki Haley in November 2010.[43]
The ACLU proposal would have created 11 majority-minority senate districts. "We think the Senate's plan is potentially retrogressive; it eliminates one majority-minority district while ours adds one. Our plan is more compact and more in line with the Voting Rights Act. It also reflects the demographic reality in South Carolina better," said ACLU state director Victoria Middleton.[44]
Maps approved
On June 15, 2011 the Senate approved its new maps by a unanimous 33-0 vote with little debate.[45] The same day, House representatives also approved their redistricting plan. The Democratic Party implied it intended to sue over the new maps.[46]
Pre-clearance
In September 2011, the Department of Justice sent questions to the South Carolina State Senate specifically seeking information about District 17. The American Civil Liberties Union had wanted that district to be a majority-minority seat but Republicans rejected that argument. Currently, District 17 is represented by Creighton Coleman (D).[47] The Department of Justice informed the South Carolina State Senate in November 2011 that it would not oppose the new Senate map.[48]
Citizen Maps
| South Carolina Citizen Proposed Congressional and State Legislative Redistricting Maps | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Legal issues
Congressional map lawsuit
On November 11, 2011, six voters in Florence, Sumter, Georgetown, Berkeley, Darlington and Charleston counties filed suit against the new U.S. House map, calling the districts "voting apartheid."[1] The suit requests that a three-judge panel dismiss the map and mandate lawmakers to create a new version of the seven Congressional districts. South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian filed the suit on behalf of the six voters.[2]
Judge recuses himself
In December 2011, the attorney representing Republican lawmakers in the lawsuit over the new South Carolina congressional map filed paperwork requesting that the federal judge be removed from the case.[3] Billy Wilkins, in his complaint, alleged that judge Mark Gergel represented the plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit over redistricting last decade. Yesterday, Gergel recused himself from the case, in part because of his work for former Governor of South Carolina Jim Hodges (D). Gergel is being replaced by Judge Patrick Duffy.[4]
March hearing
A trial began in early March regarding a lawsuit concerning the new state state house and congressional districts. The suit accuses Republican leaders of drawing districts to dilute minority representation. Republican lawyers said the maps were drawn to keep communities together and race was not a factor. Judges are expected to make a decision today.[5][6]
A panel of federal judges upheld South Carolina's new congressional and state legislative districts on March 9 dismissed the lawsuit that had alleged the lines were drawn to weaken African-American voters in the state.[7][8]
On March 19, 2012, six voters appealed that ruling up to the U.S. Supreme Court.[9]
Public hearings
The subcommittee on redistricting held 10 public hearings on redistricting. The dates and times were:[10]
- March 23, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in Orangeburg
- March 24, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Central Carolina Technical College in Sumter
- March 28, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Technical College of the Low Country in Beaufort
- March 29, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Aiken Technical College in Aiken
- March 30, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at York Technical College in Rock Hill
- March 31, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Greenville County Council Chambers in Greenville
- April 4, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Myrtle Beach
- April 5, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at 105 Gressette Senate Office Building in Columbia
- April 6, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Florence-Darlington Technical College in Florence
- April 7, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Trident Technical College in Charleston
Public comments at meetings
As legislators traveled across the state to gather reactions from citizens on redistricting, many different themes were evident. Some of the messages signaled by residents were:
- Do not split counties. Residents in Union County are split into three separate Senate districts. Residents urged the committee to combine those into one district. Lancaster County is split into two districts, as residents support one district as well. York County is also split into two senate districts.[11] "We feel very strongly that it is to our benefit the citizens of the county to retain our own representative," said Saluda County resident Brenda Bedenbaugh.[12] Additionally, Colleton County is split into three Senate districts but none of them live in Colleton County.[13]
- Safe districts. Some residents encouraged the legislators to avoid protecting incumbents with uncompetitive districts. "I'm against so-called safe districts," said Dewitt Williams at the Charleston public hearing.[13]
- 4th Congressional District. Residents in Greenville and Sparanburg counties expressed a desire to avoid being split, although population growth in those areas will likely cause a separation to occur.[14]
- 7th Congressional District. Across the state, residents made their plea for being the location of the new 7th Congressional seat. Among the areas of the state pushing for the new seat are Florence[15] and Horry/Georgetown counties.[16]
Public maps
The subcommittees on redistricting invited public submissions of possible maps from citizens. The original deadline for these maps was May 2, 2011, but legislators extended that until May 9. Greenville community members had implied that the public process was too short.[17]
Timeline
Public hearings were held at the end of March 2011 and beginning of April 2011. During the week of April 11, the redistricting subcommittee will begin drawing new districts.[18] After maps are generated, more public hearings will be held to seek feedback.
The Legislature voted 109-0 on May 5, 2011 to return on June 14, 2011 for a special session on redistricting. The session will conclude on July 1.[19]
History
South Carolina legislators have been sued the last two times the state took up redistricting.[20] The past three redistricting processes have been marred in controversy, as courts ultimately created the maps following legal challenges.[21]
Deviation from "Ideal Districts"
| 2000 Population Deviation[22] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Percentage | ||||||
| Congressional Districts | 0.00% | ||||||
| State House Districts | 4.99% | ||||||
| State Senate Districts | 9.87% | ||||||
| Under federal law, districts may vary from an 'Ideal District' by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable is preferred. 'Ideal Districts' are computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census. | |||||||
Constitutional explanation
The South Carolina Constitution provides authority to the General Assembly for redistricting in Section 3 of Article III.
See also
- State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
- State-by-state redistricting procedures
External links
References
- ↑ The Republic "APNewsBreak: Lawsuit filed challenging US House district lines in South Carolina," November 11, 2011
- ↑ SC Now "Redistricting lawsuit draws reaction from lawmakers," November 14, 2011
- ↑ The Republic "Attorney files court papers seeking to have federal judge removed from SC redistricting case," December 10, 2011
- ↑ The State "US judge steps aside in SC's US House line case," December 15, 2011
- ↑ The Herald "Judges hold hearing on SC election," March 1, 2012
- ↑ The Republic "GOP attorney: Boundaries, data used to draw new South Carolina district lines, not race," March 2, 2012
- ↑ WLTX "Federal Judges Uphold South Carolina's New District Lines," March 9, 2012
- ↑ WMBF "Hembree responds to dismissal of SC redistricting lawsuit," March 12, 2012
- ↑ Carolina Live "APNewsBreak: 6 voters appeal SC redistricting plan," March 19, 2012
- ↑ Tentative Redistricting Hearing Schedule
- ↑ Rock Hill Herald "Public offers redistricting requests for York Co." March 31, 2011
- ↑ Midlands Connect "Lawmakers seek public in put on redistricting plans," March 30, 2011
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Charleston Post and Courier "Public airs concerns on remap: Senate redistricting panel listens to leaders, residents," April 8, 2011
- ↑ Go Upstate "Panel mulls state redistricting plans," April 1, 2011
- ↑ WMBF News "Pee Dee makes final plea for 7th district," April 6, 2011
- ↑ Myrtle Beach Sun News "District lines discussed by Horry, Georgetown county residents at hearing," April 5, 2011
- ↑ Greenville News "Public get more time to submit redistricting plans," May 3, 2011
- ↑ Greenfield Reporter "After 10 hearings statewide, SC Senate panel to begin drawing congressional district lines," April 8, 2011
- ↑ Beaumont Enterprise "SC House to return in mid-June for redistricting," May 5, 2011
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedft1 - ↑ News Channel 7 "S.C. redistricting work begins," March 2, 2011
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, “Redistricting 2000 Population Deviation Table”, accessed February 1, 2011
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