Fair Representation in South Carolina

Fair Representation is the idea that everyone's voice is valued, that every vote matters.

The Problem...

Nationally, the gerrymandering wars are raging and they have come home to South Carolina. Lines are being redrawn and debated. Partisan gerrymandering is completely legal, but disenfranchises the minority.

What is partisan gerrymandering?

Representatives picking their voters to increase their chances of winning along partisan lines.

What is racial gerrymandering?

Representatives picking their voters by packing minority voters into one district or cracking them into smaller parts in several districts.

Independent redistricting only goes so far when our single member districts are winner take all - and "all" means the majority has the power to ignore the minority if it chooses.

The Solution

Larger districts that allow multiple representatives to be elected in proportion to the voter's desires means that everyone has a real opportunity to elect someone who represents their values. The winner take all system is founded on the idea that people get packed into districts or split into separate districts (cracking). Packing and cracking dilute people's voting power and are ideologically opposed to the foundational ideas of democracy. That means multimember districts that use proportional ranked choice voting (also known as single transferable vote).

What does that look like?

• Districts with 3-5 representatives
• Ranked Choice Voting that increases representation and decreases polarization
• At its simplest, if 60% of the district votes Republican and 40% votes Democrat in a 3 member district, you end up with 2 Republican representatives and 1 Democrat. Everyone gets representation, proportionally.

Where is this used?

• Cambridge, Massachusetts (since 1941)
• Portland, Oregon (recently chosen by their charter commission. Learn more here.
• Newburgh, New York (not in use yet, but court ordered under the NY Voting Rights Act)
• Ireland
• For a full list of its use in the United States

SC Maps: Cracking and Packing

• Cracking: In the proposed maps in the mid-decade redistrict maps, Richland County will be cracked apart to break up both Democratic and Black political power
• Packing: The maps that were approved under the Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP in 2023 scooped Democrats from Charleston and packed them with a strong Democratic base in Richland County. This made the Charleston based congressional district lean Republican. These lines also closely mirrored where Black South Carolinians live.
• Proportional Districts: These are larger districts where it's easier to keep communities of interest together and voters can elect multiple candidates to represent their views.

What can we do to help?

• Tell your representative to support our municipal option bill (H.3589 in the 2025-2026 session). It would give municipalities the option of using proportional ranked choice voting
• Tell your congressional representatives to support the Fair Representation Act. It would implement proportional ranked choice voting for Congress.
• Donate to Better Ballot SC so that we can continue to educate South Carolinians about this upgrade to the way that we vote.

How does it work?

• Check out this video on YouTube

• Try it out yourself by voting for sides on our poll page.