Skip to page content
Power & PoliticsUnited States edition
Sections
Only your five-digit ZIP code is sent. We never ask for your address.
Independent · nonpartisan
Voting history · South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

A dated list of changes to how Americans vote: district maps, polling places and drop boxes, voting laws and rules, and courts and election officials. Each entry says who did what and when, shows what became of it, and links to the page it rests on. Attempts that failed are listed as failed. Entries that rest on a news report name the outlet.

This is the district view: events tagged to this congressional district, then events that apply across South Carolina, then national events. An event is tagged to a district only when its source names that congressional district. See all of South Carolina.

Kind of event
Decade

In South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

No events have been tagged to South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District yet. District events are added over time. The state and national events below also apply here.

Across South Carolina

1974

  1. Feb 14, 1974 State Maps and lines Blocked by federal objection

    Justice Department objects under Section 5 to South Carolina's House reapportionment act

    In a letter of February 14, 1974, the Justice Department addressed the Act to Reapportion the House of Representatives, approved by the Governor on October 26, 1973. It states "On behalf of the Attorney General I must, therefore, interpose an objection to the implementation of this Act," and that the objection "is based upon two aspects of this plan - the submergence of significant concentrations of Negro voters into large majority-white multi-member districts and the magnification of this dilution of Negro voting strength by the numbered post and majority vote requirement." It adds that "the legal effect of the objection of the Attorney General is to render unenforceable this reapportionment plan."

    Source last checked Oct 21, 2026

1973

  1. Jul 20, 1973 State Maps and lines Blocked by federal objection

    Justice Department objects under Section 5 to South Carolina's Senate plan in Act No. 1205 after a court-ordered reconsideration

    In a letter of July 20, 1973, the Justice Department addressed Act No. 1205, which reapportioned the South Carolina Senate and was submitted May 9, 1972. On June 30, 1972 it had said no objection would be interposed because it was "constrained to defer" to a three-judge court's May 23, 1972 decision; a federal court in Harper v. Richardson later remanded the matter, and on July 19, 1973 ordered the Attorney General to consider the plan without regard to that decision. The letter states "I am unable to conclude that Act No. 1205 does not have the effect of abridging voting rights on account of race. Therefore, on behalf of the Attorney General, I must interpose an objection to the implementation of the election procedure set forth in that statute." The Department's index notes that the objection was ruled untimely in Morris v. Gressette, 432 U.S. 491 (1977).

    Source last checked Oct 21, 2026

1972

  1. Jun 30, 1972 State Laws and rules Blocked by federal objection

    Justice Department objects under Section 5 to South Carolina's numbered-post requirement for multi-member offices

    In a letter of June 30, 1972, the Justice Department addressed Acts 1204 and 1205. Act 1205 provided a new Senate reapportionment plan and extended the numbered-post requirement to all multi-member districts in the House; Act 1204 provided for numbered posts in all multi-member bodies. The letter enters no objection to the implementation of Plan A of Act 1205, deferring to a three-judge court that had approved it on May 23, 1972, but states: "For the above reasons, we must enter an objection on behalf of the Attorney General to the implementation of Act 1204 and Section 3 of Act 1205." It says the Department was "unable to conclude that the racially dilutive effect some courts have described would not be occasioned by the numbered seat requirement."

    Source last checked Oct 21, 2026

  2. Mar 6, 1972 State Maps and lines Blocked by federal objection

    Justice Department objects under Section 5 to South Carolina's Senate redistricting plans under Act No. 932

    In a letter of March 6, 1972, the Justice Department addressed the redistricting plans for the South Carolina Senate under Act No. 932 (Plan A and Plan B), submitted by the Attorney General of South Carolina and received on November 22, 1971. It states "we are unable to conclude, as we must under the Voting Rights Act, that either proposed Plan A or Plan B will not have the effect of abridging the right of black citizens of South Carolina to vote on account of race or color," and that "I must on behalf of the Attorney General interpose an objection to changes submitted by these reapportionment plans." The letter cites Whitcomb v. Chavis on the potential effect of multi-member districts.

    Source last checked Oct 21, 2026

Nationwide

1975

  1. Aug 6, 1975 National Laws and rules Enacted

    Voting Rights Act extended in 1975, with language-minority protections

    Public Law 94-73, dated August 6, 1975, is titled "To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to extend certain provisions for an additional seven years, to make permanent the ban against certain prerequisites to voting, and for other purposes." It also provides that no voting qualification may be imposed "to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote because he is a member of a language minority group."

    Source last checked Oct 20, 2026

1971

  1. Jul 1, 1971 National Laws and rules Enacted

    26th Amendment ratified: voting age of 18

    The National Archives lists the 26th Amendment as passed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971. It reads: "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."

    Related: Supreme Court decides Oregon v. Mitchell

    Source last checked Oct 20, 2026

1970

  1. Dec 21, 1970 National Courts and officials Decided by a court

    Supreme Court decides Oregon v. Mitchell

    On December 21, 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the 1970 Voting Rights Act Amendments. The Court's syllabus says the 18-year-old minimum-age requirement is valid for national elections but not valid for state and local elections, and that the literacy test provision is valid.

    Related: Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 become law · 26th Amendment ratified: voting age of 18

    Source last checked Oct 23, 2026

  2. Jun 22, 1970 National Laws and rules Enacted

    Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 become law

    Public Law 91-285, dated June 22, 1970, is titled "To extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with respect to the discriminatory use of tests, and for other purposes." It may be cited as the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970.

    Related: Supreme Court decides Oregon v. Mitchell · Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed into law

    Source last checked Oct 20, 2026

How this timeline is built

Every entry rests on at least one source that was opened and read, and that source states the date and the fact. Courts, legislatures, election offices, the Justice Department, the Census Bureau, the Federal Register and Congress.gov come first. A news report is used only when no official page states the fact, and it is labeled with the outlet's name. Encyclopedias are not used as sources. History starts in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act. County names come from the Census Bureau's 2024 Gazetteer. Congressional district numbers are those in use for the 2026 election; an event is tagged to a district only when its source names that congressional district.

When a later event changes an earlier one, such as a law later struck down, both entries are listed and point to each other. This page does not predict outcomes or say which party a change helps. U.S. House maps for 2026 · Back to the 2026 voting center.