COLUMBIA, (AP) -- Six black South Carolina voters want the nation's highest court to hear their case over the state's new congressional and state House districts.
Attorneys for the voters on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their appeal. The court has not said if it will take the case, which bypassed the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Earlier this month, a three-judge federal panel ruled that South Carolina's U.S. House districts and state House districts are fair and do not discriminate against black voters. The voters had argued the districts drawn by the Republican-dominated state Legislature diluted blacks' voting power and were improperly drawn based on race.
The filing period for political offices in South Carolina opened last Friday.
State Rep. Alan Clemmons of Myrtle Beach was the chair of the State House Redistricting Committee.
Clemmons said he would be very surprised if the Supreme Court finds any misconduct in the redistricting lines.
"The bottom line is it doesn't change a whole lot," said Clemmons. "The plan is to move forward with 2012 elections on a normal time table unless the Supreme Court sees any merit in the appeal."
"If the court sees there is a problem, it will likely apply to the 2014 elections not 2012."
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
