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South Carolina Senate Does Not Act on New Midterm Map, Defying Trump

With early voting already underway, it became clear there was no longer enough support to use new lines before the November midterm elections.

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The South Carolina State Capitol building, as seen through a row of trees.
The State Capitol building in Columbia, last year. The Senate vote on Tuesday ensures that South Carolina will for now remain among the outliers in the South on the issue of redistricting.Credit...Crush Rush/Associated Press

The South Carolina Senate abruptly adjourned on Tuesday without taking up a new congressional map that aimed to eliminate the state’s lone majority Black district and cement an entirely Republican delegation.

By refusing to act, lawmakers defied pressure from President Trump and national conservatives to wade into the country’s redistricting wars before the November elections.

The State Senate failed to pass a motion to stop debate on the map, signaling that with early voting already underway on Tuesday, there was no longer enough support among Republicans to push through new district lines before the state’s June 9 primary. Instead, the Senate agreed to adjourn, effectively punting votes on a new map until after the primary.

The vote ensures that for now, South Carolina will remain among the outliers in the South. Other Republican-led states have raced to respond to the Supreme Court’s weakening of the Voting Rights Act by diluting districts where a majority of Black voters have repeatedly elected Democrats.

But in South Carolina, the prospect of throwing out thousands of ballots was enough to prevent enough Republican support for new district lines. Nearly 45,000 votes had already been cast by 3 p.m. Tuesday during the first day of early voting.

It is likely that South Carolina will return to the debate for future elections. Leaders in Georgia and Mississippi, where primaries have already been held, have signaled that they want to redraw their own district lines in time for the 2028 elections.


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