SC’s new voting maps could land state in court, attorney says. Voters deserve better
South Carolina has made it to a top 10 list, but unfortunately it’s not the sort of list you want to be on.
On Sunday, attorney Marc Elias, who specializes in voting rights and election law, included South Carolina along with nine other states in a list titled “States to watch for new voting rights, redistricting and pro-democracy litigation (in order of likelihood).”
1. Arizona
2. Georgia
3. New Hampshire
4. Pennsylvania
5. New York
6. Arkansas
7. Oklahoma
8. South Carolina
9. Texas
10. Florida
Each Sunday, Elias issues an updated version of his list and at the start of 2022 South Carolina was in the number 10 spot. The next week we moved to seven and now we’re at number eight. Progress?
Why does it matter? It matters because Elias and his team at Washington, D.C.-based Elias Law Group has a very specific mission - to challenge laws that suppress or subvert voting rights and our elections. If they are eyeing South Carolina’s redistricting process, that means the process, as others have already argued, needs to be revisited.
Elias’ law firm did not respond to a request for comment, but the law firm’s website says it is “dedicated to representing Democrats, voting rights advocates, mission-driven organizations” and other nonprofits. Announcing the firm’s creation, Elias noted, “We must do everything we can to protect the right to vote and have that vote counted.”
Should South Carolina legislators be concerned about being on Elias’ radar?
Consider the words of Steve Bannon, former adviser to President Trump. “One thing about Marc Elias. He’s pure evil, but man that brother is smart, tough. I’m telling ya, he’s the standard. We gotta match that guy.”
Elias and his team are currently taking on 19 states in various cases related to voting rights and a host of newly-enacted election laws, and when his team promises a state will be sued if it proceeds with legislation that infringes on voting rights it always follows through. That doesn’t guarantee a win, but it does mean there’s a good chance South Carolina could find itself in the position of having to redraw its maps again if it loses.
Our neighbors to the north are in the midst of a court battle and in a move to delay the North Carolina primary to June 7 there seems to be recognition that the state could lose and have to redraw what its challengers say are heavily gerrymandered maps.
South Carolina legislators should consider what a lawsuit would mean to the people who pay their salaries - South Carolina’s taxpayers. Instead of spending taxpayer dollars to defend a lawsuit based on gerrymandered, non-competitive districts, how about producing maps based on fairness and equity that actually make our races competitive, giving voters a real choice and giving candidates a reason to actually earn voters’ support?
As our reporter Zak Koeske noted, “the Senate Judiciary Committee voted (Wednesday) 14-8, along party lines” to support redistricting maps that, if adopted, would “solidify the 1st Congressional District as a Republican seat and could cement a 6-1 Republican advantage in the U.S. House for years to come, according to an analysis of past election data.”
Committee Chairman Sen. Luke Rankin’s office did not comment directly on questions about possible legal challenges, but said Rankin would address the issue during debate on the senate floor.
The Senate should do what it is already morally obligated to do - produce congressional maps that truly give every South Carolina voter a voice.
As the League of Women Voters said in recent redistricting testimony, “Please reject the temptation to prevent voters from choosing their representative in November.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2022 at 11:00 AM with the headline "SC’s new voting maps could land state in court, attorney says. Voters deserve better."