Who has to update voter records after a South Carolina town redraws its ward map?

Official title

Opinion addressing a municipal elections commission's responsibility regarding voter records when the municipality adopts a redistricting map.

Requester

Requested by The Honorable N. Daniel Gibson, Member, South Carolina House of Representatives.

Plain-English summary

A state representative wrote on behalf of constituents in the Town of McCormick. The Town adopted a new redistricting map in December 2023, but its voter records apparently were never updated to match the new ward lines. The Town held a council election in April 2024, a District 4 candidate protested over improper boundaries, the municipal election commission granted the protest and ordered a new election, and a special election was set for November 2024, all while the underlying records problem stayed unfixed. The representative asked three questions: when a town with its own election commission adopts a new ward map, is that commission responsible for updating voter records; if not, who is; and does state law set a deadline for the update?

The office's answer to the first question is yes. Section 5-15-100 vests a municipal election commission with the powers and duties of municipal supervisors of registration and of county commissioners of election, and directs it to "insure proper books of registration are provided for each ward or precinct." The office read that to include updating records to reflect amended ward lines. Section 5-15-100 also pushes the duties of county election commissions under Title 7 onto the municipal commission, and § 7-5-660 requires county commissions, with the State Election Commission's executive director, to prepare registration books showing which ward or precinct each elector lives in. Put together, the office concluded the Town's municipal election commission is the body responsible for updating voting records to show which ward each elector belongs to after the Town adopts a redistricting plan. That answers the second question too: it is the municipal commission, so there was no need to look elsewhere.

On the third question, the office found the Legislature set no specific deadline. But it did not leave it there. Redistricting exists to satisfy the one-person-one-vote command of the Equal Protection Clause, which the U.S. Supreme Court extended to local elected bodies in Hadley v. Junior College District. Courts give governments some grace on timing, as the Sixth Circuit noted in French v. Boner, but the office warned that failing to update voter information within a timeframe a court considers reasonable could itself violate one person, one vote.

What this means for you

Municipal election commissions: The opinion concludes that a town with its own election commission must update its voter records to match a newly adopted ward map. The commission absorbs the county election commission's Title 7 duties under § 5-15-100, including the § 7-5-660 obligation (shared with the State Election Commission's executive director) to keep books showing each elector's ward or precinct.

Town councils and municipal officials: The opinion confirms a town may draw its own ward lines under § 5-15-50, but it treats updating the voter records to reflect those lines as a separate, mandatory step that the election commission owes. Adopting a map is not the end of the job.

Voters and election-protest filers: The opinion supports the view that stale ward assignments are a real legal problem, not a clerical footnote. It ties the failure to update directly to the one-person-one-vote guarantee, which is the doctrine behind boundary-based election protests.

The State Election Commission: The opinion reads § 7-5-660 to make the SEC's executive director a co-participant with the local commission in preparing ward and precinct registration books. The opinion notes the SEC was not even aware of the Town's ward changes when the office reached out.

Common questions

Our town adopted a new ward map. Who updates the voter rolls?
If the town has its own municipal election commission, the opinion places that duty on the commission. It is responsible for ensuring proper registration books for each ward and for the county-commission duties Title 7 assigns.

Is there a legal deadline to update voter records after redistricting?
No specific statutory deadline, according to the opinion. But it cautions that an unreasonable delay could violate the one-person-one-vote requirement of the Equal Protection Clause, so the practical window is "whatever a court considers reasonable."

Can a town draw its own ward lines?
Yes. Section 5-15-50 lets a municipal governing body establish ward lines by ordinance. The opinion notes a separate, older point that voting precinct boundaries, as opposed to ward lines, may be changed only by the General Assembly.

What happens if the records are never updated?
The opinion does not impose a penalty, but it links the failure to a possible Equal Protection violation. In the McCormick situation it describes, the unaddressed records problem was tied to an election protest that led to a council seat's election being set aside and rerun.

Background and statutory framework

South Carolina lets each municipality choose how it elects its council (at large, by ward, or a mix) under § 5-15-20, and § 5-15-50 lets the municipal governing body establish ward lines by ordinance with at least sixty days' public notice before elections. Section 5-15-100 sets out the functions, powers, and duties of municipal election commissions: such a commission holds the powers of municipal supervisors of registration (absent appointed supervisors under § 7-5-640) and of county commissioners of election (§ 7-5-10 and the rest of Title 7), and must ensure proper registration books for each ward or precinct, prepare ballots, appoint poll managers, and conduct municipal elections.

Because § 5-15-100 devolves the county election commission's duties onto the municipal commission, the office turned to § 7-5-660, which requires the State Election Commission's executive director, together with each county's board of voter registration and elections, to prepare duplicate registration books showing the electors living in each ward or precinct. Read together, those provisions made the municipal commission responsible for keeping the ward assignments current after a redistricting.

For the timing question, the office relied on federal constitutional law. Hadley v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City (U.S. Supreme Court) applied the one-person-one-vote rule to local elected bodies, requiring districts drawn so equal numbers of voters elect equal numbers of officials. French v. Boner (Sixth Circuit) recognized that courts allow some flexibility in the timing of implementing a redistricting plan. The office synthesized these into a "reasonable time" standard: no fixed deadline, but a duty to update before delay matures into a constitutional violation.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/opinion-addressing-a-municipal-elections-commission-s-responsibility-regarding-voter-records-when-the-municipality-adopts-a-redistricting-map/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/media/mcfn0cde/03674237.pdf

Original opinion text

Alan Wilson
attorney General

August 22, 2024

N. Daniel Gibson
Member

South Carolina House of Representatives
2607 Highway 221 South

Greenwood, South Carolina 29646
Dear Representative Gibson:

We received your letter requesting an opinion from this Office concerning the updating of voting
records in the Town of McCormick after the adoption of a new redistricting map. In your letter,
you state:

I have been made aware by my constituents that even though the Town of
McCormick [Town] adopted a new redistricting map in December 2023, it does

not appear that the voter records of Town residents were updated to reflect this
new districting map.

In addition, the Town held a Town Council election on April 2, 2024. A
candidate for Town Council District 4 is reported to have filed a protest of this
election. This protest cited improper election boundaries. I am further informed
that the Town Municipal Election Commission granted this candidate’s protest,
and ordered a new election be held for Town Council District 4.
A Special Election for Town Council District 4 is now scheduled for November
12, 2024. However, to the best of my knowledge, the underlying issue that

caused the April 2nd election protest -and set-aside - has not been addressed.
The voter records of Town residents have not been updated to reflect the new
redistricting map that the Town adopted in December of 2023.

As such, you ask the following three questions:
1)

When a municipality adopts a new redistricting map for Town Council
Districts, and the Town has a Municipal Election Commission, is the
Municipal Election Commission responsible for updating the voting records
of Town residents to reflect the new redistricting map?

2)

cK.ger ! C. Dennis S< hloing

If a Municipal Election Commission is not responsible for updating the
voting records to reflect the new map, then who is responsible?

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N. Daniel Gibson
Page 2
August 22, 2024

3) When a municipality adopts a new redistricting map, does our existing state
law set a deadline for updating the voting records to reflect the new
redistricting map?
Law/Analysis

Section 5-15-20 of the South Carolina Code (2004) provides for the election of municipal council

members and states as follows:
Each municipality in this State shall provide by ordinance for the election of its

council. Councils shall select any one of the following methods of election of
council:
(1) Members of the council elected from the municipality at large.
(2) One member elected from each ward of the municipality by the

qualified electors of the ward. Candidates seeking office from a
particular ward shall be residents of the ward during their entire terms
of office.

(3) Some members elected from wards as provided for in (2) and the
remainder elected from the municipality at large.
(4) Members required to be residents of particular wards but be elected
from the municipality at large.

(5) Some members may be required to be residents of particular wards
and others may be residents of the municipality without regard to a
particular ward and all members shall be elected from the municipality
at large.
Regardless of the form adopted by the municipality, the mayor shall be elected
at large.

Mayors and councilmen shall be qualified electors of the municipality and, if
they are elected subject to residential or ward requirements as provided in this

section, they shall be qualified electors of the ward prescribed for their election
qualification.

Based on your letter, we presume the Town chose to elect at least some of its council members
based on wards. Section 5-15-50 of the South Carolina Code (2004) states: “Each municipal
governing body may by ordinance establish municipal ward lines and the time for general and
special elections within the municipality. Public notice of the elections shall be given at least sixty

days prior to such elections.” Thus, it is up to the Town to determine the ward lines,1 which it
1 Prior opinions established that although section 5-15-50 permits municipalities to establish ward lines, “boundaries
of voting precincts may be changed only by the General Assembly.” Op. Att’y Gen., 1987 WL 245420 (Jan. 28,
1987).

N. Daniel Gibson
Page 3
August 22, 2024

appears to have done consistent with its new redistricting map. However, you informed us that
the Town’s voting records do not reflect the newly drawn wards and you question who is
responsible for updating the voting records to reflect the new wards, specifically referring to the
Town’s municipal election commission.
Section 5-15-100 of the South Carolina Code (Supp. 2023) provides the functions, powers, and

duties of municipal election commissions and states:
The municipal election commission shall be vested with the functions, powers

and duties of Municipal Supervisors of Registration if no such supervisors have
been appointed pursuant to § 7-5-640, and shall also have the functions, powers

and duties of commissioners of election, as set forth in § 7-5-10 and other
provisions of Title 7. The municipal election commission shall insure proper
books of registration are provided for each ward or precinct, shall prepare and
distribute ballots and election materials, appoint managers of election for each
polling place and otherwise supervise and conduct all municipal, special and
general elections

(emphasis added). According to the emphasized language above, the Legislature placed specific
responsibility on municipal election commissions to ensure proper record keeping for each ward,
which we presume includes updating those records to reflect any amendments made ward lines.
Moreover, we also note section 5-15-100 states municipal election commissions are responsible
for the duties of county commissioners of election as set forth in Title 7. Section 7-5-660 of the

South Carolina Code (2019) under article 7 of chapter 5 of title 7, specifically pertaining to
municipal elections, provides:
The Executive Director of the State Election Commission must, along with the
county board of voter registration and elections in each county, prepare
duplicate sets of books of registration for each ward or each precinct, showing

the duly registered electors, according to the county registration books, living
in each particular ward or precinct in the municipality.
According to section 5-15-100, when a municipality has a municipal election commission, the
duties of county commissioners of election are devolved upon the municipal election commission.
Thus, pursuant to section 7-5-660, the Town’s municipal election commission along with the
Executive Director of the State Election Commission, must prepare books for each ward or

precinct showing which ward each elector is assigned to.2
While we believe the Town’s municipal election commission is responsible for updating the voting
records based on the duties assigned to it under section 5-15-100, the Legislature did not provide
2 In reaching out to the State Election Commission for purposes of this opinion, it was not aware of changes to the
Town’s municipal wards.

N. Daniel Gibson
Page 4
August 22, 2024

a specific timeframe in which the voting records must be updated. Nonetheless, we must keep in
mind that the purpose of redistricting is to comply with the one person, one vote requirement of
the Equal Protection Clause. The United States Supreme Court extended this rule to local
governments stating:
as a general rule, whenever a state or local government decides to select persons
by popular election to perform governmental functions, the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that each qualified voter must be

given an equal opportunity to participate in that election, and when members of
an elected body are chosen from separate districts, each district must be
established on a basis that will insure, as far as is practicable, that equal numbers

of voters can vote for proportionally equal numbers of officials.
Hadley v. Junior Coll. Dist. of Metro. Kansas City, Mo., 397 U.S. 50, 56, 90 S. Ct. 791, 795, 25

L. Ed. 2d 45 (1970). Courts have given leeway in implementing redistricting plans recognizing
the Supreme Court has never drawn hard and fast rules about the length of terms
or how long after a decennial census year new elections under the new census
must be conducted. The principles of mathematical equality and majority rule

are important, but we should not allow them to outweigh all other factors in
reviewing the timing of elections.
French v. Boner, 963 F.2d 890, 892 (6th Cir. 1992). Thus, we will believe courts will generally

give governmental bodies grace in implementing a redistricting plan, but how much time much
depends on the circumstances of the implementation.
Conclusion

South Carolina law allows municipalities to elect their council members according to municipal
wards. S.C. Code Ann. § 5-15-20. Section 5- 15-50 of the South Carolina Code gives municipalities

authority to draw their own ward lines. When a municipality has its own election commission,
section 5-15-100 of the South Carolina Code imposes duties on the municipal elections
commission, including the mandate to “insure proper books of registration for each ward or
precinct.” Moreover, this provision places the responsibilities normally placed on county election
commissions under title 7 of the South Carolina Code on municipal election commissions.
Pursuant to section 7-5-660 of the South Carolina Code, county election commissions, along with
the Executive Director of the State Election Commission, must maintain a set of registration books
showing the registered electors living in a particular ward or precinct in the municipality. Because

the Town has a municipal election commission, section 5-15-100 not only requires that it maintain
proper books and records for each ward, but it must also fulfill the role of the county election
commission and is responsible for the duties imposed on it in section 7-5-660. Therefore, it is our
opinion that the Town’s municipal election commission is responsible for updating voting records

N. Daniel Gibson
Page 5

August 22, 2024

to reflect which electors arc assigned to each ward upon the Town’s adoption of a redistricting
plan.

While the Legislature docs not provide a specific timeframe in which the voter information must
be updated, we believe failing to update the information for purposes of elections could result in a
violation of the one person, one vote provision of the Equal Protection Clause if not done within a

timeframe a court considers reasonable.

Sincerely,

Cydney Milling
Assistant Attorney General

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

)

Rooert D. Cook
Solicitor General