On December 29, 2021, LDF Deputy Director of Litigation Leah C. Aden, South Carolina NAACP President Brenda Murphy, ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Somil Trivedi and ACLU of South Carolina Director of Legal Advocacy submitted joint testimony to the South Carolina House of Representatives Redistricting Ad Hoc Committee on proposed redistricting maps for South Carolina’s seven Congressional seats and the process by which it developed the proposed maps. The Committee’s proposed maps have failed in several ways. First, both the House’s initial and “alternative” proposals fail to reflect the voting strength of Black South Carolinian voters, particularly outside of Congressional district (“CD”) 6. Second, both House proposals ensure that there are no politically competitive Congressional districts in South Carolina by cracking Black communities to achieve this end. Both House proposals continue a pattern of consistently flawed Congressional redistricting maps proposed by the South Carolina Legislature this cycle, beginning with the draft Congressional map first proposed by the Senate.
Read the joint testimony here.
Read the oral testimony SC NAACP President Brenda Murphy here.
LDF has been closely monitoring the redistricting processes in South Carolina and other key states to prevent discriminatory redistricting plans and ensure that legislatures comply with their obligations under the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. Read more about LDF’s redistricting work here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Follow LDF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
