A panel of federal judges has made a ruling, stating that South Carolina is permitted to utilize its existing congressional map. This decision comes as a result of the Supreme Court taking an extended period of time to determine the constitutionality of the map before the upcoming fall election.
Last year, a three-judge panel discovered that the state’s congressional map likely violated the constitution due to its intentional gerrymandering, which resulted in the exclusion of 30,000 Black voters from District 1. Presently, this district is represented by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.
In October, the case was heard by the Supreme Court after the state NAACP filed a lawsuit, arguing that the action was unconstitutionally discriminatory.
The Supreme Court was urged by both parties involved in the case to make a quick decision in order to implement a new map before the upcoming elections. However, despite the deadline to send military and overseas absentee ballots for the congressional primaries on June 11 approaching on April 27, the court has not yet issued a ruling.
Due to time constraints, the state legislature recently requested the original three-judge panel to permit them to retain the current map.
The panel unanimously agreed that making changes to the map this year would be “plainly impractical,” even though they acknowledged the map’s likely unconstitutionality.
The ruling stated that with the primary election procedures approaching quickly, the appeal before the Supreme Court still pending, and no remedial plan in place, practicality must take precedence over idealism.
Legislators also filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking permission to utilize the old map.
The Supreme Court will be delivering its decision on the original appeal by the end of June. Consequently, the implementation of a new congressional map will be postponed until the 2026 congressional elections.
