South Carolina pauses redistricting as voting season nears

As early voting begins, the South Carolina Senate has voted to pause redistricting, despite pressure tied to President Donald Trump. In an opinion piece, Cynthia Travieso argues the move fits a wider pattern—starting with actions taken after the 2020 election

When early voting is starting, the fight over who gets to vote—and how district lines are drawn—can move faster than most people expect. In South Carolina, the Senate has voted to pause redistricting as the early voting period begins, even as pressure tied to President Donald Trump keeps building.

The timing matters. Travieso writes. because the disputes shaping election administration for 2026 are already visible well ahead of the November midterms. She frames the moment as part of a six-year arc that began around the 2020 election and. in her view. has laid out a blueprint for what comes next.

She points to past conduct by election deniers who, she says, tried to sabotage free and democratic elections. One example she cites is Wisconsin elections commissioner Bob Spindell. who in December 2020 signed documents falsely claiming then-candidate Donald Trump won the state for the presidency against the will of voters. Nearly 2,000 miles away, Travieso says Nevada Storey County Clerk Jim Hindle took part in a similar effort.

Travieso argues that the influence of those individuals has not ended. She says that Spindell and Hindle remain in their positions of power and continue to shape how elections are run and determined.

The article also looks at accountability in other jurisdictions. Travieso says the former Mesa County clerk in Colorado, Tina Peters, was recently granted clemency after conspiring with allies of President Trump to “breach voting systems,” based on lies about the 2020 election.

She then connects those events to a federal financial signal she describes as concrete: the Department of Justice’s announcement about a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded account intended to provide payouts to those who “suffered weaponization and lawfare.” Travieso says that announcement has led to predictions of big payouts to Jan. 6, 2021, rioters at the U.S. Capitol.

In Travieso’s account, the pressure on elections is not confined to isolated decisions by individual officials. She argues that an administration embracing authoritarian tactics. alongside state-level enablers. has “continued to set the stage” to keep people from voting. seize more power. and interfere with and control elections.

She points to multiple lines of activity: what she describes as an obsessive crusade for states’ voter rolls; calls to nationalize elections in certain places where outcomes were unfavorable; and what she calls a “maniacal preoccupation” with voting machines and hand counting.

Travieso says misinformation and baseless conspiracy theories about stolen elections have only intensified election denial attacks. She describes the White House as “weaponizing executive orders,” and says the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are making demands for state voter rolls in ways she believes could challenge eligible voters en masse.

At the state level, she says Trump’s allies continue pursuing restrictive anti-voter bills. She also references state efforts she describes as versions of the SAVE Act—also known as “show your papers” bills and “voter elimination acts.”

Her central concern is that election deniers are working to give political allies power to prevent people from voting. She writes that as November approaches, threats will intensify and lead to “more chaos, more confusion” and more attempts to seize power at any cost.

Redistricting is where she says the stakes show most clearly in the present moment. She writes about redistricting battles and highlights an effort tied to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. who she says proposed a new map in Florida designed to dilute Black and Brown voters’ voices “to an unprecedented new level.”.

Travieso’s response, in her telling, is to name the actors and back resistance. She says election systems currently run by trusted election officials are safeguarded. and she argues that actions defending elections and protecting election officials matter as another high-stakes election year approaches.

At the federal level, Travieso points to President Donald Trump and also names Justice Department figures. She specifically cites Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, saying Dhillon demanded 2024 federal election ballots and records from Wayne County, Michigan.

She also cites Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary for Election Integrity Heather Honey, saying Honey was granted access to 2020 voter data.

Travieso then shifts to state and local threats and the kind of pushback she says can stop them. She cites examples including secretaries of state pushing back against the DOJ’s demands to acquire voter rolls; state lawmakers opposing agendas she says support federal takeover of elections that have historically been run successfully by state election workers; and clerks protecting ballots and voters’ private information from getting into the hands of election deniers.

She calls for readers to support those resistance efforts and says people have stopped similar attacks before—arguing the same can be done in 2026 and beyond.

The relationship between the facts she lays out—redistricting pauses tied to early voting. historical falsifications by election officials after 2020. clemency in the case of Tina Peters. federal demands for voter rolls. and the bid to secure ballots and records in Wayne County—creates a continuous line in her argument: the struggle over election administration is not waiting for the calendar to arrive.

Travieso closes by calling on elected leaders to reject what she calls the tactics of an election-denying regime trying to keep neighbors from voting based on race, ability, and what’s in their wallets, writing that every voter has an equal say in decisions that affect their lives.

She ends with a warning she frames as inevitable: election deniers will keep trying to keep people from voting. and “they’ll only try harder.” Her message is that election deniers should face the people whose power they’re trying to take away. and that those people should send the same clear signal at every turn: “Hands off our votes!”.

Cynthia Travieso is the executive vice president for state campaigns and programs at All Voting is Local.

South Carolina Senate redistricting early voting Donald Trump election integrity voter rolls DOJ Homeland Security Harmeet Dhillon Heather Honey Wayne County ballots Bob Spindell Jim Hindle Tina Peters Jan. 6 payouts All Voting is Local