A new delay in Cayce’s redistricting process will push the municipality’s updates to its City Council map until after the coming November election, highlighting a lack of specificity in election law.

Council was set to pass final and second reading of redrawn council districts at its regular July 11 meeting, fulfilling its municipal requirement to update its district map to make sure that every person in the city has as equal representation as possible on council after receiving population data from the 2020 U.S. Census.

But Council Member Phil Carter had asked about a residential section along Dogwood Street between Cypress Street and Haynes Lane at the previous meeting, seeking to figure out why that section was being sent from District 4, which Carter represents, to District 3, represented by Hunter Sox, when the move breaks up what is a contained neighborhood in that area.

City Manager Tracy Hegler advised Council that they could redraw the new map to send that section back to District 4 and still be within the acceptable 5% population deviation between the city’s districts.

Council decided to take advantage of that opportunity, but also decided it would need to inform residents of the change before implementing it, holding another public hearing and sending out letters detailing the new map. With filing set to open next month, the members decided they didn’t have enough time to accomplish all that beforehand, asking Hegler if they could punt the decision to after the coming Nov. 7 election.

“There’s no statute that you have to do it in a certain time,” Hegler said.

Asked by Sox if, theoretically, they could never redistrict, she replied, “You’re supposed to do it as soon as you can, that’s reasonably possible.”

Council then held a unanimous vote to postpone the second and final reading on redistricting until the first meeting after the November election.

These developments might come as a surprise to those who followed redistricting talks in neighboring municipality West Columbia last year. Last August, the City Council there had some tense arguments amid concerns about the quickness with which it was moving through the process.

That haste was spurred by the resignation earlier that month of a council member moving out of the city. At the time, West Columbia City Administrator Brian Carter said the city had to take into account the updated Census information it received in late 2021 before holding a special election to secure a replacement.

According to the Municipal Association of South Carolina, however, this may not have been necessary, and Cayce could be fine pushing its redistricting to after this year’s election.

“The courts have allowed for ‘reasonable’ periods of time to elapse between Cenuses and redistricting so long as local governments are working toward a plan,” Scot Slatton, director of advocacy and communications for the association, told the Chronicle when we reached out about Cayce’s redistricting plans. “We can’t say how a court would view the situation in Cayce you outline.”

He shared a 2021 article from the association pondering the question “Delay Municipal Elections, or Not?” when the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would release 2020 info in September 2021, much later than usual.

“Federal courts have repeatedly held that the release of official census data does not require the immediate abandonment of the existing ward map,” the article explains. “Rather, the rule is that state and local governments must follow a reasonable plan and process to adopt an updated ward map that incorporates the new census data.”

Cayce is moving forward with its delayed redistricting process with Hegler, the city manager, relaying much the same understanding of the law to council.

The city with nearly 14,000 residents will hold its Nov. 7 election with its current district lines still in place.

The mayor’s seat as well as Mayor Pro Tem James "Skip" Jenkins' District 2 seat and Carter's District 4 seat will be on the ballot.

In the meantime, the council members said they will look to make sure people are as informed as possible about what the final map is set to look like.

“We could do that, but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it because we haven't told those people,” Mayor Elise Partin said when Council discussed the possibility of going ahead and approving the readjusted map without reaching out to inform the public first. “We’re very thorough about everything this body has done. We send letters. We educate. We communicate. We give people the opportunity, in this case ... for a public hearing.”

The small change to Districts 3 and 4 won’t alter the new map that much.

The most significant shifts between current district lines and what Council will look to approve in November see District 4 ceding two large swaths of territory along the Congaree River to District 2. One runs along New State Road and includes the Martin Marietta Cayce Quarry and the neighborhood backing up to Kelley Jones Park and the Cayce Riverwalk, while the other is bordered by the 12th Street Extension, Taylor Road and Old State Road and includes Dominion Energy’s Cayce headquarters.

The other changes see a few scattered blocks along the boundaries between districts swapping their affiliations, with District 3 ceding territory to District 2 and receiving territory from District 4. District 1 (represented by Tim James) will send three blocks sandwiched between Oakland Avenue and Poplar Street to District 2.