Tuesday the State House of Representatives and State Senate agreed on a plan for U.S. House of Representatives voting districts.
The plan places a new 7th Congressional District in the Pee Dee and Grand Strand, including Horry, Georgetown, Dillon, Marlboro, Chesterfield, Marion and most of Florence Counties.
State Representative Alan Clemmons chairs the House subcommittee that helped craft the plan.
He says the bill now heads to Governor Nikki Haley's desk, then to the U.S. Justice Department. From there he says, it's likely to end up in court.
Clemmons says, "Judging the past, judging on history, I would say there is an 85% probability that there will be a challenge by some party. So the courts will be deciding this plan. But, make no mistake, the courts weighing in on whether the plan meets the requirements of the law is much different than going to court and saying 'our legislature couldn't draw a plan, court, you must now draw a plan.'"
Representative Clemmons hopes the map will be agreed on by June 2012. That's when primary elections for U.S. House seats are scheduled for South Carolina.
