Court reinstates S.C. Republican-drawn congressional map for 2024 elections

South Carolina’s Republican state legislators should be allowed to implement a congressional map for this year’s elections, three people say as the Supreme Court considers whether the design constitutes racial gerrymandering. A federal panel of judges issued the ruling Thursday.

The restored map would tilt Republican in Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R.S.C.) district, helping the party retain the seat and regain the House majority in November.

State lawmakers are actively appealing a previous decision by a three-judge panel that invalidated the state map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. However, the Supreme Court has not yet issued a ruling, despite requests to do so by January 1 because of the impending elections.

Because of the delay, a three-judge district court panel on Thursday agreed to lawmakers’ request to restore the map for this year’s election only. Lawmakers noted that the candidate filing period is scheduled to end on April 1, and ballots are expected to be mailed out in the coming weeks.

“Following the finding that the 1st Congressional District was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, the court found that “the court is justified in failing to take appropriate steps to prevent future invalid elections.” “We are fully aware that this is an unusual case in which the government is unable to implement the plan,” the committee wrote in its report. 5 page judgment.

“However, with the primary process rapidly approaching, an appeal to the Supreme Court still pending, and no remedial plan in place, ideals must yield to reality,” the ruling continued. .

All three justices were appointed by Democratic presidents.

The ruling follows a map that a three-judge panel found unacceptable, moving about 30,000 black voters in the Charleston area from one district to another, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. It is intended to restore. The commission ruled that race was a major factor in the new design, rejecting lawmakers’ claims that the boundaries were changed for political reasons to improve Mace’s chances.

But as the case heads to the Supreme Court, the commission has not ordered lawmakers to immediately submit revised maps, meaning the state’s legislative maps have been in limbo for months. means.

“It is far too late now to seek such a change in the commission’s order or to expedite the remediation process toward 2024,” the lawmaker’s lawyers argued in the filing.

The plaintiffs who challenged the map, Black Voters and the South Carolina Conference of the NAACP, opposed the move.

“Despite defendants’ pleas, a full 13 months of legislative inaction does not warrant a stay of sentence,” plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in court documents. “There is still time to draft and enact a remediation plan for the 2024 Congressional elections, and defendants’ misleading and unproven claims about the urgency of the elections and voter confusion justify the postponement.” It is far from fulfilling the “heavy burden” of

State lawmakers also filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court seeking the return of the maps, but the high court has not yet issued a ruling.