Tag Archives: Redistricting

Letting citizens draw district maps: an idea whose time has come

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Grassroots activists from across South Carolina gathered in Columbia on Saturday for a full day of Census and Fair Maps workshop. It was the “soft” launch of a plan the SC Progressive Network and allies have been crafting for a long time that would empower voters to end gerrymandering in South Carolina while at the same time building a popular movement for social and political change.

The workshops trained a core group of activists to initiate the Fair Maps capaign models and recruit partner organizations ahead of the major launch in April.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Leroy Johnson, founder of Southern Echo, opened the morning session on the 2020 US Census by stressing the importance of getting a correct count in South Carolina and the inherent challenges of reaching certain populations. Federal US Census coordinator for SC Mary Peeler outlined how the 2020 numbers will affect voting and money allocated to the state. Florida-based Juanita Alvarex Mainster talked about outreach in Hispanic and migrant worker communities, and US Census geographer Wes Flack broke down how federal Census workers will coordinate with local governments and non-governmental organizations. Will Roberts, our State Political Cartographer in charge of drawing districts, reviewed where populations have changed, and how lines will move to accomodate changes.

Vince Matthews, Senior Policy Advisor, SC Progressive Network

Power Point presentations from the Census workshop are posted HERE.

After lunch, participants took a deep dive into our legislative package on redistricting and mapping a timeline for the grassroots campaign to get it passed. Rep. Cobb-Hunter and Sen. Mike Fanning, sponsors of the companion legislation, made the case for meaningful redisctricting while acknowledging how challenging it will be, given the stacked deck that is the General Assembly. Vince Matthews, senior policy advisor for the SC Progressive Network, compared our plan to other redistricting proposals that allow politicians to remain in charge of the process.

The legislation:

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter

Network Co-Chair Kyle Criminger went over the state maps he created, showing how districts look now and how they could look if citizens were drawing the lines. The number of competitive state political districts could increase by 500% under a Citizens Redistricting Commission. The CRC ACT is the only redistricting bill that includes a mandate to make districts competitive.

See video clips from the workshops HERE.

The level of interest and engagement on Saturday gives us great hope for this campaign. Change will not happen overnight, but will come with a sustained and statewide effort to educate, agitate, and mobilize voters.

We invite organizations and individuals to join the Fair Maps Coalition. Wherever you live and whatever your skills, we need your help. To find out how, see the volunteer opportunities at the Fair Maps web site. We’ll be setting up working groups to take on various tasks. Let us know how you want to be involved. We will schedule monthly conference calls to answer questions from the field and to track our progress.

Keep this contact information handy.

This is an exciting initiative, and we are confident that with a sustained and serious effort we can change the balance of power in South Carolina to favor citizens over politicians.

Let’s do this!