Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to South Carolina’s Congressional District Map, with Far-Reaching Implications for Voting Rights

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to South Carolina’s congressional district map, which was adopted in 2022. The case, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, was brought by Black South Carolinians who allege that the state is diluting Black voters’ power in an effort to increase GOP representation in Congress.

The case began in November 2021 when a top aide to Rep. James Clyburn delivered a one-page map to the Supreme Court. Just months earlier, the Supreme Court had upheld a key section of the Voting Rights Act and ordered Alabama to draw a second Black-plurality congressional district.

In January, a three-judge federal district court panel agreed that the congressional district map adopted by South Carolina’s Republican government violated the 14th Amendment’s protection against racial discrimination. The court found that the map had “bleached … African American voters out of the district”.

The Supreme Court will now decide whether Republicans, who control the Legislature, illegally disenfranchised Black voters when they created new election maps or whether the process was simply partisan politics. The outcome of the case could have far-reaching implications for the future of voting rights in the United States.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP will be closely watched by voting rights advocates and civil rights groups. The decision could have a major impact on the future of voting rights in the United States.