By Joseph Ax
May 26 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s push for Republican states to draw new, more favorable electoral maps ahead of November’s midterm elections suffered twin setbacks on Tuesday, when efforts in South Carolina and Alabama to reshape U.S. House of Representatives districts were both stymied.
In South Carolina, several Republican state senators broke with their party and voted with Democrats to reject a new map aimed at dismantling the district held by U.S. Representative James Clyburn, a Black Democrat who was first elected more than three decades ago.
Separately, a panel of three federal judges blocked Alabama Republicans from installing a new map that would eliminate one of the state’s two districts with major Black populations, ruling that state lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Black voters in drawing the lines.
At Trump’s urging, Republicans in several Southern states have rushed to implement new maps following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that weakened protections for U.S. House districts with significant Black or Latino populations.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; editing by Paul Thomasch)
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