(The Epoch Times)—South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on May 14 issued an executive order calling on lawmakers to convene for a special session beginning the next day.
“I have issued an Executive Order calling the General Assembly back for an extra legislative session to address the state budget and congressional districts beginning Friday, May 15, at 11:00 AM,” McMaster said.
The state General Assembly previously had begun debate on South Carolina’s congressional districts in response to the Supreme Court’s narrowing of the Voting Rights Act in the case Louisiana v. Callais, but that session concluded before debate had finished.
That April 29 decision by the Supreme Court determined that race may be only a minor factor in redistricting rationales, not the predominant, overriding reason for how congressional district lines are drawn.
In South Carolina, only one seat—that of Rep. Jim Clyburn—is held by a Democrat in the Republican stronghold. This seat, which features the highest proportion of minority voters in any South Carolina district, would be the main target of state House Republicans.
McMaster’s executive order comes amid a national fight on redistricting that Republicans are currently winning.
Republicans regained the advantage after the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a map that sought to grow the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
Under the redrawn map proposed by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and her fellow Democrats in the state General Assembly, Republicans were projected to lose up to four U.S. House seats in the upcoming midterms—a development that would have placed Democrats ahead in the national fight.
Following approval of the map on April 22, Republicans took the fight against the redistricting effort to court.
After Virginia Democrats recently passed a referendum to add four new Democrat-favoring districts, the party had reclaimed the advantage in the national fight; however, Republicans regained the advantage after the Virginia Supreme Court rejected the process used to pass the measure as going against the state’s Constitution.
This story will be updated with more information.
Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.
