Rock Hill to postpone October ward elections due to delayed census data. What now?
Rock Hill possibly would postpone its three ward elections scheduled for October due to a delayed release of census data needed for redistricting.
Monday night, city council unanimously voted on an ordinance to pause the Oct. 19 elections for Wards 4, 5 and 6 until the needed 2020 census data is released, which is anticipated in late September, officials said. Council will need to vote on its second reading before the ordinance is official.
However, the Rock Hill mayoral race will take place as scheduled. Mayor is elected at-large and will not be impacted by redistricting, officials said.
The city is required to redraw its six ward districts every 10 years based on new U.S. Census Bureau data. Delays related to COVID-19 slowed the bureau’s original redistricting data delivery and now municipalities will not receive the data until Sept. 30, according to the 2020 census timeline.
City attorney Paul Dillingham said the September release date will not allow city officials — who predict significant population and geographic changes since 2010 — enough time to properly redraw district lines before the October election. In the past, the city has received the redistricting data in March, he said.
In the last 10 years, the city has attracted more residents, development and annexation, but that growth has not occurred evenly across the six wards, Dillingham said.
“The U.S. Constitution requires voting districts to be substantially equal in their population,” Dillingham said. “Unless we redistrict, that is no longer the case.”
According to the city’s 2020 population estimates using building permits, Ward 4 — which includes the airport and runs from Herlong Avenue toward Newport and up to Mount Gallant Road — has an additional 1,793 people since 2010. Councilman John Black represents Ward 4.
Ward 5, which runs from East Main Street to Saluda Street, down to Heckle Boulevard and continues past the Rock Hill Country Club, has grown by about 1,667 people, based on the estimates. Councilwoman Nikita Jackson represents Ward 5.
Ward 6, which covers Winthrop University and Cherry Park and travels past Interstate 77 up to the Catawba River, has grown to include an additional 1,949 people, based on the estimates. Councilman Jim Reno represents Ward 6.
Dillingham also noted that the city must be in compliance with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which ensures redistricting plans do not discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in a protected language minority group.
Based on census estimates, Rock Hill’s population, which is about 75,000 people, is made up of about 55% whites, 39% Blacks and 7% Hispanic or Latino.
“There’s no one size fits all,” Dillingham said. “All cities are different and our city, we really feel strongly without redistricting, our wards are not going to be safely in compliance with either the equal protection requirements of the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act.”
York’s City Council has discussed implementing a similar delay for its November elections for Wards 1, 5 and 6.
New election timeline
Once the city receives the necessary census information, Rock Hill officials would work to get the district lines redrawn in 60 days, Dillingham said.
“We’re going to do the best we can, but we have to get this data,” he said. “If the data comes in even later than we fear or hope, we may have to revisit this again.”
Council members elected during the postponed 2021 race would have their four-year terms cut short by three or four months, Dillingham said. The swearing-in would be April or May, rather than January 2022, he said.
“I’d rather serve three years and nine months with the right people who had a chance to vote for me than four years of maybe a wrong district,” Black, who is up for reelection, said.
Reno, who also is up for reelection, has been on council for more than 20 years and said he’s had his ward impacted by redistricting in the past.
“The unique thing for the ward that I represent is last time we went through this, my ward — the lines were changed to take in more territory because the population had decreased in my particular ward,” he said. “Ten years later, it has now grown, based on the numbers we’re estimating, so it’s going in the opposite direction.”
Throughout the summer, the city plans to hold several meetings, headed by Councilman Derrick Lindsay, who represents Ward 1 and is not up reelection, to educate Rock Hill residents on the process of redistricting.
“So, when the numbers come out and we try to get on that compressed time schedule for the preparation of the districts and the vote, no one feels rushed,” Mayor John Gettys, who is up for reelection, said. “In other words ... Everybody is educated as to the process so that when these numbers come in, people don’t believe that we’re not being as transparent as possible at the time. We’re just moving quickly to get this done.”
York County Councilman William “Bump” Roddey has announced he is running for Rock Hill Mayor this year. Filing for the mayoral race opens in July.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 8:18 AM.
