LDF, the South Carolina NAACP, and the ACLU of South Carolina sent a letter to the Lancaster County, South Carolina Council concerning (1) how to involve community members and ensure transparency in the redistricting process and (2) its affirmative obligations to comply with the Fourteenth Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The letter urges the County Council to ensure that residents have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the redistricting process at every stage. Specifically, the Council’s Redistricting Committee must share the proposed map it is considering on its website with shapefiles and/or block equivalency files and with adequate time to allow members of the public to assess and review the Committee’s map. The letter also urges the County Council to reconsider its plan to move a predominately-white area into the County’s sole majority-minority district. This move would make it more difficult for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice.
Read the full letter 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.
