Palmetto State News

Rural South Carolina voters are using redistricting meetings to voice their concerns about a new legislative map plan that they believe could silence their voices. 

During the meetings, which conclude on Thursday, Aug. 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Redistricting Subcommittee has been collecting input about creating 46 Senate districts, each representing 111,270 residents. The Palmetto State's 5.1 million residents would also potentially be represented by 124 state House districts and seven congressional representatives. 

However, for jurisdictions like Saluda County, because only 21,000 people call it home, those residents would be represented by three state senators — leaving the locals' interests divided among three Senate lawmakers. 

“We are a unique community,” Saluda County Democratic Party Chair Sharon Holloway said, The Center Square reported last month. Holloway's comments came during the first redistricting hearing July 27 in Columbia, where she noted that Saluda should be represented by one senator. 

Fourteen of South Carolina’s 46 counties have enough residents to constitute a senate district, meaning voters in most counties will be either split into two or more districts or grouped into large rural districts with diminishing efficacy as the state’s urban/suburban areas continue to grow while rural populations decline or stagnate.

Redistricting is required one year after the decennial Census is conducted. State legislatures or the designated authority are tasked with redrawing legislative and congressional districts based on population shifts. 

However, the process has a reputation of becoming political, with the majority party sometimes gerrymandering the map to favor its political party. 

“Protecting self-interest is a powerful motivator, and few things impact the self-interest of legislators more than redistricting,” South Carolina League of Women Voters Vice President Lynn Teague said at a hearing, The Center Square reported. “This shows in our current maps: a substantial majority of South Carolina’s voters had no real choice when they voted in November 2020.”

The subcommittee's goal is to have the newly redrawn districts ready by October, subject to the approval of the Republican-controlled Legislature during its 2022 session, in time for the summer’s primaries and November’s general election, The Center Square reported.