GOP attorney: Data, not race, led to new lines

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republicans say a plan to redraw South Carolina’s 124 House districts was not based solely on race but included other factors, including keeping communities in a single district.

Six black voters have challenged the districts approved last year by the Republican-dominated General Assembly. The State newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/w9crlC) that an attorney for House Speaker Bobby Harrell said Friday during questioning of a witness for those voters that lawmakers used data like county boundaries, not race, to draw the districts.

A black South Carolina Democratic lawmaker testified Thursday he believes redistricting was an attempt to resegregate voting boundaries.

The lawsuit could force the state to redraw all 124 House districts and seven congressional districts. The judges are expected to decide by March 9, a week before filing opens for state offices.