US Supreme Court upholds SC redistricting lines

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ South Carolina’s redrawn state house and congressional maps are being allowed to stand. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday summarily affirmed a federal court’s ruling that South Carolina’s new lines are fair and don’t discriminate. Six black voters sued, claiming the GOP-dominated state Legislature drew lines that segregate white and black voters into election districts and pack black voters into one congressional district. They called it “voting apartheid.” But a federal panel says plaintiffs provided no convincing evidence that legislators drew the lines to dilute the voting power of blacks. An attorney for voters who sued and a spokesman for state House Speaker Bobby Harrell didn’t immediately comment on the decision. Redistricting is a once-a-decade process to ensure political district lines reflect population changes as shown by the U.S. Census.