SC redistricting push fails hours after early voting begins

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A high-profile redistricting push with national attention came to an abrupt end Tuesday as South Carolina state senators adjourned a special session called by Gov. Henry McMaster, backing away from changes to district lines as early voting surged across the state.

Lawmakers spent roughly three hours at the State House before support for the proposal started to unravel. Republicans who had previously backed the effort began switching their votes as record-setting early voting turnout was reported on the first day ballots were cast.

Sen. Richard Cash, a conservative Republican from Anderson, was the first in his party to publicly reverse course.

“With South Carolina citizens going to the polls today, neither my conscience nor common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,” Cash said.

Moments later, Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican from Beaufort, moved to carry the bill over to the next legislative session — effectively ending the proposal for this year. Davis criticized the plan, saying it contained significant flaws, including errors in precinct lines.

Following the vote, Democrats pointed to the surge in turnout as evidence that voters opposed changing election rules midstream.

“Today South Carolina stood up — to outsiders, to Washington, D.C.,” said Sen. Deon Tedder, a Charleston Democrat. “We reassured that our state process is our state process.”

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, an Edgefield Republican who had opposed the timeline of the effort, said the strong early voting numbers influenced lawmakers’ decisions.

“When people are angry, they vote,” Massey said, adding that the proposal came too late in the election cycle. He also rejected the idea that the vote signaled a political rebuke. “I don’t think from the Republican senators’ perspective this was a rebuke to President Trump at all.”

The collapse of the redistricting effort halts, for now, a politically charged issue that had drawn scrutiny beyond South Carolina, as debates over election rules and fairness play out nationwide.

With the special session adjourned, lawmakers are expected to shift their focus to other unresolved issues from the legislative session, including the state budget, regulation of hemp products and potential changes to DUI laws.

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