The body decided not to go along with a map that had earlier been approved by the House.
COLUMBIA, S.C. โ A controversial effort to redraw South Carolinaโs congressional districts ahead of the 2026 elections is effectively dead after the South Carolina Senate rejected a procedural motion needed to advance the bill Tuesday.
Lawmakers spent days debating the proposal during a special legislative session called by Henry McMaster. The measure would have redrawn the stateโs seven congressional districts and made the 6th Congressional District โ currently represented by Jim Clyburn โ more favorable to Republicans.
But supporters of the bill failed Tuesday to secure enough votes for a measure known as cloture, which would have limited debate and forced a final vote on the legislation.
The cloture vote failed 20-24. Senators needed 26 votes for the motion to pass.
Several senators who had previously supported the redistricting effort changed their votes Tuesday, citing concerns that the process had moved too late into the election cycle. Sen. Richard Cash said he could no longer support redistricting with voting already underway.
According to the South Carolina State Election Commission, more than 32,300 voters had already cast ballots by 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Larry Grooms, who supported the proposal, argued the Senate should still move forward and approve cloture in order to bring the bill to a final vote.
Without cloture, supporters could not force the legislation to a third-reading vote, effectively halting the billโs path forward. Following the failed cloture vote, Sen. Tom Davis made a motion to continue the bill.
Under South Carolina legislative procedure, continuing a bill in the second year of a two-year legislative session effectively kills the legislation. Senators approved the motion to continue the bill by a 26-18 vote.
The Senate then voted to adjourn until June 10.
The collapse of the proposal ends weeks of intense debate over congressional redistricting in South Carolina and follows a rare special session focused largely on the issue.
Supporters of the proposal argued the state should redraw its maps following recent Supreme Court rulings narrowing portions of the federal Voting Rights Act. Opponents argued the effort was politically motivated and would weaken representation for Democratic and Black voters.
The proposal would also have delayed South Carolinaโs congressional primaries from June to August and required election officials to restart the filing and ballot process for congressional races statewide.
