Did South Carolina election officials have to mail new voter cards after every stage of redistricting?

Plain-English summary

Beaufort County’s election board asked whether it had to mail a new voter-registration card after each separate redistricting of municipal, legislative, and county council districts. The May 2001 informal opinion said the notification statute concerned a voter’s precinct or ward, not every change in a represented district. The board therefore did not have to send cards after every redistricting stage on the described facts.

The letter cautioned that “ward” could mean different things locally. If the term meant a voting precinct, changing it triggered mailed notice. If it meant a larger represented district, a boundary change alone did not trigger that statutory notice. The AG suggested other notification as a policy choice, without treating it as legally required.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2001. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical summary

Election boards

The AG read the mailing duty to turn on changes in voting precincts or wards functioning as precincts. A change only to a House, Senate, council, or municipal district did not itself require a new card under the cited statute.

Voters

The opinion distinguished the place or area where a person voted from the larger district represented by an official. It recognized that local use of “ward” could affect which category a change fell in.

Common questions

Did every redistricting stage require a new voter card?
A: The AG said no. District changes alone did not trigger the cited mailing rule.

What if a voter’s precinct changed?
A: The letter said notice of the new precinct had to be mailed.

Did a ward change require notice?
A: It depended on whether the locality used “ward” for a voting precinct or for a larger represented district.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion interpreted S.C. Code Ann. §7-7-960, which required mailed notification when a voter’s precinct or ward changed. It discussed earlier AG opinions distinguishing precincts, wards, and districts, then applied that distinction to Beaufort County’s proposed staged redistricting.

Citations and references

• S.C. Code Ann. §7-7-960: the voter-notification requirement at issue.

Official title

Concerning South Carolina’s voter registration and election laws. Specifically, the opinion addresses the notifications the Board of Elections and Voter Registration is required to issue every voter as Beaufort County undergoes the redistricting process.

Requester

Ms. Agnes M. Garvin, Executive Director, Beaufort County Board of Elections and Voter Registration

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/may-16-2001/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/01may-16-garvin.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLIE CONDON
ATTORNEY GENERAL

May 16, 2001
Ms. Agnes M. Garvin, Executive Director
Beaufort County Board of Elections & Voter Registration
Post Office Drawer 1228
Beaufort, South Carolina 29901-1228

RE: Informal Opinion
Dear Ms. Garvin,
By your letter of May 3, 2001, you have requested an opinion of this Office concerning South Carolina's voter registration and election laws. By way of background you inform us of the following: In Beaufort County, on Hilton Head Island, there are currently twenty-seven (27) precincts and six (6) wards or Municipal Districts. Beaufort County, like every county in South Carolina is beginning redistricting. Upon completion, to help eliminate splits within the precincts, we plan to reapportion or realign our precinct. Upon completion we will notify every voter whose precinct has changed of their new ward or precinct and also of their new districts by providing them with new voter registration cards.

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Specifically, you ask if the Board of Elections and Voter Registration is required to mail notification cards to every elector after the redistricting of the municipal districts, again after the redistricting of the House and Senate districts and again after completion of the County Council redistricting. ' .

The statute in question, S.C. Code Ann. §7-7-960 reads, in part: Any elector whose precinct or ward is changed by a change of ward or precinct boundaries must have notification mailed to him by the county registration board reflecting his new precinct or ward. The statute specifically refers to a change in the elector's "precinct or ward." Thus, the statute necessarily dictates that notification must be mailed to the elector upon a change in ward or precinct, but does not require notification upon a change in the elector's district, or redistricting. Some

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Ms. Garvin
May 16, 2001
Page 2of3
confusion may be caused by the varying use of the terms "precinct," "ward," and "district" throughout South Carolina. The terms "precinct" and "ward" are often used interchangeably and have the same connotation. See Op. Atty. Gen. Apr. 11, 1978 (citing McQuillin, Municipal Corporations, Vol., 2,
§ 7.49; OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, 'Precinct'; BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY, 4th Ed., 'Ward'). Some law, however, has distinguished a ward from a precinct, conceptually, and further described its relationship to a district:
[w]hile a ward, like a township, may be an election district, yet it is a more comprehensive term; an election district may be but part of a ward politically and physically. A precinct is a geographical area for voting purposes. However, a ward may be a geographical area not only for voting purposes but for police, sewer, or park purposes. See id.(citing 29 C.J.S., Elections,§ 1(10) c). Thus, South Carolina law typically defines precinct as a limited geographical area for voting purposes. A district, however, is the entire geographical area represented by an elected official. A district may be comprised of several precincts. Although district and precinct are rarely interchanged, the term "ward," as used by both governmental entities and state statutes, may refer to either, depending on its context. For example, in an opinion of this Office dated January 28, 1987, we concluded that only the General Assembly has the authority to alter voting precinct boundaries. In contrast, we recognized that municipalities have the authority to alter municipal wards. See OP. ATTY. GEN. Jan. 28, 1987. In that opinion, we emphasized the difference between precincts and wards. However, in that same opinion we also referred to Section 7-7-960 and presupposed that for purposes of that statute, ward and precinct are used interchangeably. In short, a change in precincts clearly requires notification. A change in districts does not require notification. Whether a change in a ward requires notification depends on how the term is used in that governmental entity. When the municipality, for example, labels the voting area a ward but essentially uses the term to mean precinct, or a designated geographical voting area, the electors must be notified upon a change in their municipal ward pursuant to Section 7-7-960. If, however, a municipality labels an area a ward but essentially uses the term to mean district, Section 7-7-960 does not require that the electors are notified upon a change in that ward or district. You have informed us that Hilton Head Island contains six "wards or Municipal Districts." From the information you have provided us, you only refer to changes in the districts of Beaufort County. Because nothing in the Code of Laws, including Section 7-7-960, requires notification of the electors upon a change in their districts, we advise -that the Board of Elections and Voter Registration is not required to mail new voter registration cards to the electors upon the completion

Ms. Garvin
May 16, 2001
Page 3of3
of each stage of the redistricting. As a final note, as a matter of policy and in an effort to provide the electors with as much information as practical, you may wish to provide the electors with some form of notification of the district changes, such as publication in the local newspaper or the mailing of simple postcards. This letter is an informal opinion only. It has been written by a designated Assistant Attorney General and represents the position of the undersigned attorney as to the specific question asked. It has not, however, been personally scrutinized by the Attorney General nor officially published in the manner of a formal opinion.

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With kind regards, I remain
Very truly yours,

Susannah Cole
Assistant Attorney General