With less than two weeks before early voting begins in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster has issued an executive order calling lawmakers back to the State House in a special session to redraw the state's Congressional district maps. The goal, as stated by House Republicans, is to flip South Carolina from six Republican Congressional seats to seven, eliminating the state's only majority-minority district, currently represented by longtime Democrat Rep. Jim Clyburn.

This effort did not emerge from South Carolina alone. The proposed map was developed with input from Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust. President Trump has personally called South Carolina lawmakers urging them to pass the new maps. Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, and other states are engaged in similar redistricting pushes aimed at locking in Republican House majorities nationwide. South Carolina is the latest front in a coordinated campaign to reshape the balance of power in Congress through state-level map drawing.

The timing alone should alarm every voter. Early voting begins May 26. Primaries are June 9. Redrawing district lines in a rushed special session while voters are weeks away from casting ballots is not a legitimate exercise of legislative power. Even five Republican state senators agreed, joining Democrats in blocking the move. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, a Republican, warned publicly that an overly aggressive map could backfire and harm the party's standing in court.

This push also comes in the direct aftermath of a Supreme Court decision that weakened key protections of the Voting Rights Act, stripping away safeguards that have shielded minority communities from exactly this kind of targeted redistricting for six decades. With those federal protections diminished, what happens in South Carolina's State House this week matters more than ever.

We are calling on South Carolina lawmakers to reject these last-minute maps, protect the representation of Black South Carolinians and all communities whose voices are at stake, and commit to a transparent, independent redistricting process that no party, governor, or president can manipulate under deadline pressure.

Voters deserve fair districts drawn in the open. Not maps drafted in the final hours of a legislative session under pressure from the White House.

Sign this petition to demand fair elections and an end to last-minute gerrymandering in South Carolina.