COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina state representative introduced two bills Tuesday that would place redistricting power in the hands of voters instead of politicians, a proposal that has had little movement in the past.
“We need to change this system of politicians picking voters and get back to voters picking the politicians,” said bill sponsor Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, an Orangeburg Democrat who announced the bills on the second floor Statehouse lobby surrounded by supporters.
The proposed Citizens Redistricting Commission would create a 14-member commission, two members representing each congressional district. Eligible voters who qualify for the job apply and go through a jury selection process before securing a spot on the commission. One of the qualifications for the job is not holding a position in office. The second bill is a joint resolution to get a constitutional amendment added to the November 2020 ballot where voters would decide who has redistricting power.
South Carolina state and congressional district lines are drawn by the state legislature. Critics of the current process said it is unbalanced and does not represent democracy.
“It’s time to do redistricting a bit different,” Cobb-Hunter said. “The system is broken, and we need to fix it.”
Cobb-Hunter said gerrymandering is a nationwide issue. She referenced cases in Pennsylvania and Maryland where the states’ Supreme Court intervened and redrew congressional district lines after the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, were accused of drawing district lines favoring one party over the other.
Brett Bursey, South Carolina director of the Progressive Network, said he has been working with Cobb-Hunter for over 10 years and does not expect the legislation to pass.
“Our campaign isn’t a legislative one. It’s not a legal one. It’s a grassroots one to take partisanship and race off the table,” Bursey said.
Greenville Republican Rep. Bruce Bannister didn’t comment specifically on either bill, but said he knows of the movement to get away from the old method of redistricting.
“South Carolina’s redistricting has met the pre-clearance requirements, so we’ve done what the law has required us to do,” Bannister said, noting that although the districts look funny on the ground, they make sense.
“There hasn’t been a successful challenge to how we’ve drawn our lines in South Carolina, but I expect us to continue to be respectful of the law,” he said.
Another version of the bill was introduced in January and is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. Under that bill, members of the commission would be appointed by the governor and lawmakers.
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This story has been corrected to show Bannister’s home district as Greenville.
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