South Carolina Senate Rejects Redistricting Plan as Alabama Map Is Blocked

The South Carolina Senate voted 20-24 on Tuesday to reject a Republican plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts before the midterms, a setback for President Trump’s push for mid-decade redistricting, according to Newsweek and Al Jazeera. The same day, a federal three-judge panel blocked Alabama from using a new congressional map, Al Jazeera and Newsweek reported.

The South Carolina plan would have redrawn all seven congressional districts to favor Republicans and targeted the state’s only Democratic-held seat, represented by Rep. James Clyburn, who has served 17 terms, Newsweek reported. It would also have canceled congressional primary voting already under way and replaced it with a new election later in the summer, according to Newsweek. Early voting for the June 9 primary had begun, Al Jazeera reported.

Twelve Republican senators voted against the measure, Newsweek reported. Sen. Richard Cash, a Republican, said, “Neither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,” according to Al Jazeera. With the plan dead, South Carolina will use its existing map and scheduled primaries, Newsweek reported.

In Alabama, the panel issued a preliminary injunction ordering the state to use the court-drawn districts from 2024, finding that the Legislature’s 2023 plan was “intentionally discriminated based on race,” Newsweek reported. The judges wrote that they could not require Alabamians to vote in 2026 under a plan “tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” according to Al Jazeera and Newsweek. The 2023 plan kept only one majority-Black district, and the court had earlier ordered a second, Newsweek explained.

Alabama officials said they will appeal. Secretary of State Wes Allen said he would go to the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as possible, and Attorney General Steve Marshall said he found nothing in the Supreme Court’s May 11 vacatur order that would provide a basis for the outcome and that the state would appeal immediately, Newsweek reported. On May 11, the Supreme Court had vacated the panel’s 2025 decision and sent the case back for reconsideration in light of Louisiana v. Callais, a ruling that reinterpreted how Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act applies, Newsweek said. Al Jazeera reported that Alabama had postponed primaries for four congressional seats while it drew new maps. Davin Rosborough of the ACLU Voting Rights Project said, “Black voters deserve a voice and a seat at the table,” Newsweek reported.

The decision on Callais weakened Voting Rights Act protections, a result Mr. Trump called a “big win,” and several Republican-led states then moved to redraw their maps, Al Jazeera reported. Maps are drawn by the states, and both parties have long used gerrymandering, Al Jazeera noted. Democrats have made similar moves: California voters approved a map that could give Democrats three to five more seats, while a Democratic-drawn map in Virginia was struck down by the state’s top court in early May, Al Jazeera reported. Some analysts warn that efforts by both parties risk undermining election integrity, according to the outlet.