Supreme Court to hear arguments in key case about gerrymandering

Claire Wofford, Associate Professor of Political Science, College of Charleston and Gibbs Knotts, Professor of Political Science, College of Charleston
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A South Carolina case about gerrymandering – the drawing of legislative district lines to maximize political power – that could affect voting rights around the country will be one of the cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court during its upcoming 2023-2024 term. The case, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, concerns the way state legislatures consider race and party when they are redrawing state voting maps. The Supreme Court ruled in 1993 in Shaw v. Reno that racial gerrymandering – when legislatures draw district lines primarily based on race – is unconstitutional, regardless of legislators' intent, except in rare circumstances.