Filing opens Friday for candidates running in South Carolina’s 2018 election — from the governor and statewide offices to congressional and S.C. House races. But hanging over this election season are two U.S. Supreme Court cases that could reshape the state’s elections. Wisconsin Democrats claim that state’s election districts are so politically gerrymandered — redistricted to favor Republican candidates — that they violate voters’ constitutional rights. In another case before the Supreme Court, Maryland Republicans claim Democrats in that state unfairly gerrymandered a congressional district to favor their party. The justices’ decisions, expected this summer, could change the way election lines are drawn for federal, state and local races in South Carolina and across the country.
The charge of hyper-partisan redistricting long has been made in South Carolina, where the GOP-controlled Legislature redraws election districts.
The results of that hyper-partisanship could be seen again Friday as S.C. candidates start declaring for races.
Full Article: How the Supreme Court could shake up SC’s election map | The State.