Late yesterday, the media here and here relayed the news that the Voting Section of the Department of Justice has finally precleared the newly redistricted lines in the South Carolina state senate.  This approval follows a previous delay caused by the Voting Section waiting until the last day of their 60 day review process (September 27, 2011), to make an official request for more information.  In many cases, such a request is a precursor to an objection and ultimately spells doom for a redistricting plan.  

As ELC first reported in October, DOJ was wandering off the appropriate retrogression analysis and adopting a maximization strategy pushed by the ACLU, NAACP, and other groups.  In this case, South Carolina saw right through the juvenile badgering and immediately responded by taking the issue directly to the federal courts.  Perhaps after reflection, the Voting Section has backed off from a legal fight that would highlight their actions.

As reported earlier, the Voting Section and front office political leadership in the Civil Rights Division had fallen “hook, line and sinker” for the civil rights group’s desperate lobbying on behalf of a maximization policy in Louisiana, South Carolina, and other states still under review.  This unduly intimate relationship resulted in the Voting Section ultimately asking for more information and delaying the approval of the senate plan despite no evidence of retrogression.  Is there any doubt that the order to “request more information” came directly from the AAG Perez.

What’s the lesson here?  Despite no hint of retrogression, the threat of objection from DOJ was a naked ploy to extract another minority seat in an illegal maximization strategy.  Fortunately, South Carolina knew that this request may be forthcoming and promptly filed a complaint with the DC District Court to force sunshine and fairness on the process.  The strategy to fight on principle worked.

DOJ had earlier signed off on the South Carolina congressional and state house plan.  Now after backing down off the senate plan, all of the new lines on a statewide level have been approved.  While still subject to private litigation, the biggest hurdles to redistricting in South Carolina have been successfully cleared.