Democrat: TX voting-maps ruling case helps appeal

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An attorney representing black South Carolina voters says a federal court ruling on Texas’ voting maps bolsters his appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian says he’s encouraged by a ruling Tuesday from the U.S. District Court in Washington.

The three-judge panel found that district maps drawn and approved by Texas’ Republican-controlled Legislature don’t comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. The panel found evidence of discrimination in new lines drawn for congressional and state Senate districts.

Tuesday’s ruling conflicts with one in March by three federal judges in South Carolina, who found that newly drawn lines for South Carolina’s congressional and state House seats are fair and don’t discriminate.

Harpootlian says the nation’s high court now has two opposing rulings that beg for a resolution.