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Supreme Court Rejects Bid To Halt Redistricting Lawsuit

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The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to put on ice a federal lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's congressional districts approved after the 2010 census.

A court official said Saturday that Justice Samuel Alito on Friday rejected the requested stay of the lawsuit by five Pennsylvania voters against the governor and elections officials.

Republican legislative leaders had argued that trial in the case could occur as the justices are considering a Wisconsin gerrymandering case with what they call "substantively identical claims."

The lawsuit alleges state maps have unfairly given Pennsylvania Republicans an electoral advantage, and it seeks to reshape the state's congressional districts before the 2018 midterm elections.

Republicans won 13 of 18 congressional seats in the 2014 and 2016 elections despite earning a little over 50 percent of the vote.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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