32,000 Voters

It is the people turning out that will save democracy.

Tuesday in South Carolina, voters stopped a gerrymander in the redistricting wars brought on by the Supreme Court’s Callais decision.

The state Senate killed a Donald Trump-backed plan to redraw all seven of the state’s congressional districts to favor Republicans, eliminating the seat held by Jim Clyburn — the state’s only Democrat and only Black member of Congress.

The plan had passed the state House and state Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said he fielded several calls from Trump as he lobbied it. Governor Henry McMaster had convened a special session for the express purpose of passing it.

Then early voting began and by Tuesday afternoon, more than 32,000 South Carolinians had already cast ballots in the June 9 primary. Twelve Republican state senators joined twelve Democrats to block the gerrymander bill from advancing. State Senator Richard Cash said his conscience would not let him stop an election that had already begun. State Senator Tom Davis moved to carry the bill over to next session, which under South Carolina procedure ends it for this cycle.

Shane Massey commented: “When people are angry, they vote.”

Last December, Indiana’s state Senate rejected a similar push. Donald Trump retaliated against those Indiana senators this month, backing seven primary challengers of whom five won, ousting longtime Republican state senators. So the South Carolina senators who broke ranks yesterday know what is certainly coming for them.

But yesterday their math appeared simple. Thirty-two thousand ballots were already in the box. The senators counted them and decided they could not be ignored.

It is the people turning out that will save democracy.