Horry redistricting maps likely to change once more before leaders grant approval
As Horry County moves closer to adopting a new district map that will determine how residents vote in local elections, members of the public continued to raise concerns about the way leaders have drawn the lines.
In Carolina Forest, for example, residents are concerned that the new maps give them only one representative on county council and the school board, when in the past the area was broken up among four different districts.
Some Black residents, too, have criticized the maps for breaking up Black neighborhoods into multiple districts, potentially diluting the voting power of those residents.
And still other residents view the districts that cover the Western, rural parts of Horry County as far too large compared to other districts.
At a second public hearing Wednesday night, the county leaders in charge of re-drawing Horry County’s voting districts heard those complaints from residents, and indicated they may adjust the new maps yet again in response to the concerns. The committee has already adjusted the local district maps — which determine districts for county council and school board — in response to concerns.
Wednesday’s hearing was held after residents complained that a first public hearing was held on a weekday afternoon when many people are working. Only about a half-dozen people attended that first hearing. Wednesday’s hearing, though, saw several dozen people attend.
“I just had a real problem with us having only one council member,” Dreama Purdue, a Carolina Forest resident and former leader of the Horry County Republican Party, told the commission in charge of drawing the maps Wednesday. “Carolina Forest is the largest, growing area in Horry County. The homes that are being built, the apartments, the condos, the businesses and whatnot…that’s going to be more than one person can handle.”
That was a concern raised previously by Carole vanSickler, the president of the Carolina Forest Civic Association, at a prior hearing on the proposed maps.
Elsewhere in the Carolina Forest area, Norm Fay noted that the Eastern-most portion of the area, along River Oaks Drive, was split up among three different districts in a way that could confuse residents.
“When you have a county council race and you have three different races in the same precinct, that’s going to be a really challenging problem for the people in the River Oaks precincts,” he said.
By law, county leaders must redraw the voting district maps every decade using data from the most recent U.S. Census. In Horry County, that data showed that more than 80,000 new residents moved to the county between 2010 and 2020, meaning the voting district maps were likely to shift substantially. The county has 11 districts that each elect a representative to the county council and to the school board. Each political body also has a chairman that is elected county-wide. The local maps do not affect state legislature districts or municipal elections.
YOU CAN VIEW AN INTERACTIVE VERSION OF THE PROPOSED REDISTRICTING MAP HERE.
After the 2010 census, each of the 11 districts in Horry County had a little more than 24,000 residents each. Today, after the 2020 census, each districts has around 32,000 residents each. The districts have also grown more diverse, with each district roughly 80% white as of 2010, and each roughly 77% white as of 2020.
So far, the county leaders in charge of redrawing the maps have concentrated rapidly-growing areas, marking the biggest change to the districts. Carolina Forest, for example, will now be its own district and have only one county council and school board representative rather than being split up among Myrtle Beach and Conway-area districts. Forestbrook and the S.C. 90 corridor were treated similarly. Doing so eliminated so-called “fingers” on some districts that were created to balance out the population in each.
Some changes to the districts, though, concerned Black residents, who complained that the proposed districts split up Black neighborhoods into multiple districts, potentially diluting the political power of those areas. County leaders in response adjusted the maps to eliminate that issue. The map drawers also adjusted the Carolina Forest district to eliminate a neighborhood that is considered Conway-adjacent, rather than squarely in the large unincorporated area.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Cedric Blain-Spain, a minister and leader of the Horry County Democratic Party, made another plea to leaders for “competitive districts” that will give Black people and non-Republicans a fairer chance during elections. Many political races in Horry County are currently decided during the Republican primary elections in June, rather than the general elections in November, due to the number of Republicans in the county and in each voting area.
“If the so-called minority vote weren’t so important, why do we see them being cracked up by this committee?” Blain-Spain questioned. “Why do we have to continue to have non-competitive districts in this county?”
Felicia Soto, a resident along S.C. 90 who’s been involved in community organizing efforts for several years, made a similar call for the districts to be more equitable.
In response to resident concerns, both County Council member Orton Bellamy, a Republican, and Doris Potter-Hickman, a Democrat, both said they were committed to addressing concerns raised by residents and that the committee would take another look at the maps. Bellamy noted that one area split between districts seven and 11 would likely be unified in the next revision.
The committee, led by County Council member Tyler Servant, is now on a tight timeline to finish drafting the district maps. Servant on Wednesday said the committee is aiming to give a preliminary vote of approval to the map at its next meeting, and then send it to County Council for three rounds of approval. The map must be finished before March, which is when registration for political office opens ahead of the June 2022 primary elections.
While it’s not yet clear how the final map will look, committee members Wednesday said additional changes were likely.
“As we have done in the past, we have gone back and looked at each one of the concerns given to us,” Potter-Hickman said. “We are proud to say that from the last meeting we have made many changes and from this meeting we will continue.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 12:49 PM.
