SC House speaker Bobby Harrell (R- Charleston)
/ FILE
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Lawyers for the leader of the South Carolina House say a lawsuit over redrawing the state's new U.S. House districts should be dismissed.
Attorneys for House Speaker Bobby Harrell say in court papers filed Monday that six black voters have failed to prove the state's congressional districts were redrawn unfairly based on race.
Harrell is among the defendants in a lawsuit over new district lines, including the state's new 7th Congressional District along the coast. Six black voters are challenging the plan passed by the Republican-dominated state Legislature, claiming it creates "voting apartheid."
The Justice Department has already said it would not challenge the new layout.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that Harrell and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell would not have to testify about their redistricting debate.
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