The political drama in #SouthCarolina is part of a #Republican strategy—propelled by #Trump — to redraw voting districts to the #GOP’s advantage in an attempt to hold on to a slim #House majority in the #midterms. #Republicans have been moving quickly to try to leverage a recent #SCOTUS ruling that weakened minority protections under the federal #VotingRightsAct.

#VotingRights #VRA #redistricting #law #ElectionLaw #RepresentationMatters #WhiteSupremacy #gerrymandering #SouthernStrategy #JimCrow

Some senators said it was simply too late to make a change.

“#SouthCarolina citizens are going to the polls today. And neither my conscience or common sense is going to let me stop an #election that is already underway,” #Republican state Sen. Richard Cash said.

#VotingRights #VRA #redistricting #law #ElectionLaw #RepresentationMatters #WhiteSupremacy #gerrymandering #SouthernStrategy #JimCrow #SCOTUS #Trump

Great news! #SouthCarolina Senate rejects #Trump call to redraw congressional maps

As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina’s primaries, the state Senate rejected a #Republican plan to #cancel those congressional votes & instead schedule a new primary under revised districts designed to help the #GOP oust the powerful #Democrat #JamesClyburn.

#VotingRights #VRA #redistricting #law #ElectionLaw #WhiteSupremacy #gerrymandering #SouthernStrategy #JimCrow
https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-congress-voting-rights-trump-6d2daecd387cc0ad1dd56e94f621eda5

If the case makes it to #SCOTUS, it will be the first major test of the high court’s new standard for challenging congressional maps. The lower court judges made clear that they had reviewed the arguments through the lens of the Supreme Court’s #VotingRightsAct ruling last month but maintained that the state’s map failed under the new standard by intentionally discriminating against #Black voters.

#VotingRights #VRA #redistricting #law #WhiteSupremacy #SouthernStrategy #JimCrow #Trump

The ruling further confuses the electoral landscape across the #South, as #Republican-led legislatures have raced to implement new district lines after #SCOTUS narrowed the #VotingRightsAct of 1965. It also demonstrates how the ruling from the nation’s highest court has further muddled how lower courts interpret the landmark #CivilRights #law.

#VotingRights #VRA #redistricting #ElectionLaw #RepresentationMatters #WhiteSupremacy #gerrymandering #SouthernStrategy #JimCrow #Trump

#Alabama’s AG, Steve Marshall, said he would immediately appeal to #SCOTUS, which last month ruled that a #Louisiana congressional map drawn to create 2 majority-#Black House districts was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Gov Kay Ivey, a Republican, has already set special primaries in August in 4 #House districts that would be affected by her state’s new congressional map.

#VotingRights #VRA #redistricting #law #RepresentationMatters #WhiteSupremacy #SouthernStrategy #JimCrow #Trump