SC House to reconvene in December for redistricting

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The full South Carolina House of Representatives will return to Columbia in December to finish redistricting.

Speaker of the House Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, has called members to the State House for a special session on Dec. 1, 2, and 6, according to a memo the House clerk sent Wednesday to members and staff.

“The primary purpose of these meetings is to complete the redistricting processes of the House and Senate,” Clerk of the House Charles Reid wrote. “The House will continue to meet based upon the will of the House and until such time as business is completed.”

The announcement comes a day after the House Judiciary Committee approved a proposed map that establishes new boundaries for the 124-member House of Representatives, based on data from the 2020 U.S. Census. As of Wednesday afternoon, the amended map, which House members will take up during the special session, was not available for public viewing on the House redistricting webpage.

While the committee approved the map in a 21-2 vote, with two members abstaining, in less than an hour Tuesday, the proposal has drawn criticism. A House Redistricting Subcommittee meeting last week lasted more than four-and-a-half hours, as critics argued during a lengthy public comment period that the proposal protected incumbents too much, split too many counties into multiple House districts, and made too few districts competitive between parties.

The state Senate has not yet set a date for the full chamber to reconvene, as the Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet voted on its proposed map.

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