COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A group that works to protect and expand voting rights is asking South Carolina’s highest court to order lawmakers to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts because they lean too far Republican.

South Carolina’s congressional map was upheld two months ago in a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the state General Assembly did not use race to draw districts based on the 2020 Census.

Those new maps cemented Republicans 6-1 U.S. House advantage after Democrats surprisingly flipped a seat two years earlier.

The lawsuit by the League of Women Voters is using testimony and evidence from that case to argue that the U.S. House districts violate the South Carolina constitution’s requirement for free and open elections and that all people are protected equally under the law.

Gerrymandering districts so one party can get much more political power than it should based on voting patterns is cheating, said Allen Chaney, legal director for the South Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union which is handling the lawsuit.

“South Carolina voters deserve to vote with their neighbors, and to have their votes carry the same weight. This case is about restoring representative democracy in South Carolina, and I’m hopeful that the South Carolina Supreme Court will do just that,” Chaney said Monday in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

The suit was filed against the leadership in both the Republican-dominated state Senate and state House which approved the new maps in January 2022.

“This new lawsuit is another attempt by special interests to accomplish through the courts what they cannot achieve at the ballot box — disregarding representative government. I firmly believe these claims will be found to as baseless as other challenges to these lines have been,” Republican House Speaker Murrell Smith said in a statement.

The suit said South Carolina lawmakers split counties, cities and communities to assure that Republican voters were put into the Charleston to Beaufort area 1st District, which was flipped by a Democrat in 2018 before Republican Nancy Mace flipped it back in 2020.

Democrat leaning voters were then moved into the 6th District, drawn to have a majority of minority voters. The district includes both downtown Charleston and Columbia, which are more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) apart and have little in common.

The ACLU’s suit said in a state where former Republican President Donald Trump won 55% of the vote in 2020, none of the seven congressional districts are even that competitive with Democrats excessively crammed into the 6th District.

Five districts had the two major parties face off in 2022 under the new maps. Republicans won four of the seats by anywhere from 56% to 65% of the vote. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn won his district with 62%.

“There are no competitive districts in the current congressional map (i.e., districts where Democrats make up between 45 percent and 55 percent of seats). This is despite the fact that … simulations show that following traditional redistricting principles would have led mapmakers to draw a map with two competitive congressional districts,” the ACLU wrote in its lawsuit.

The civil rights organization is asking the state Supreme Court to take up the lawsuit directly instead of having hearings and trials in a lower court.

Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New Mexico have similar language in their state constitutions and courts there have ruled drawing congressional districts to secure power for one political party violates the right to equal protection and free and fair elections, the ACLU said in a statement.

South Carolina’s defense is looking to make a name for itself in 2024. After a disappointing start to last year, the defense, under fourth year defensive coordinator Clayton White, began playing up to their standard in the second half of the season.

This year’s group is loaded with veterans at every level of the defense, who knows what it takes to play well in the SEC. With fall camp less than a week away, Coach White is excited about the group he has for 2024.

“Obviously some of the same guys and we have some fresh new faces,” Coach White said. “Some guys who dove right into our defense, right into our culture and our team. Guys are ready to become one.”

Every great defense of the past, across all levels, has one thing in common, high quality leadership. Leaders do their job well, while holding everyone else accountable to the standard set by the team. The Gamecocks are no stranger to great leadership.

Alex “Boogie” (Huntley), Debo (Williams), Demetrius Knight is a natural born leader, Kyle Kennard has spoken up a ton, Gilber Edmond is back having a big voice, but we have a lot of guys who can say something and the guys are going to listen,” Coach White said.

Back at SEC Media Days, head coach Shane Beamer took the mic and said this off-season’s theme has been “hunger.” Hunger to get better and show improvements from 2023. The identity of the defense, however, never changes. It’s always about the process and going full speed.

“Our identity is never going to change,” Coach White said. “We want to make sure that we are process-oriented, not results based right now. We want to always stay very aggressive in all facets of our game, how we play, our mindset.”

Being unpredictable can be tough for opposing offenses to figure out as the game goes on. South Carolina wants to cause head aches for other team’s offenses, but the key is to remain disciplined.

“We want to be a very disciplined defense,” Coach White said. “Want to make sure we’re smart, playing how we’re supposed to play and at the same time be unpredicatable. That’s not going to change. We want to play as fast as we can, get after the ball, keep getting the ball back. 64 turnovers in three seasons, we want to keep adding to that.”

In order for the Gamecocks to have a successful season in 2024, the defense will be heavily relied upon while the offense comes into form. Shane Beamer and Clayton White seem confident about their defense’s cabailities heading into the year.

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The good news for South Carolina regarding COVID is the occurrence is low. The bad news is the rate of infection is rising at a level the Centers for Disease Control calls substantial.

Most states recorded a moderate or even stable increase while Kentucky, Virginia. Georgia, Illinois and Connecticut along with South Carolina recorded substantial increases.

The CDC says as of July 23, COVID-19 infections were growing or likely growing in 36 states and territories, declining or likely declining in one state — Hawaii — and were stable or uncertain in five states and territories.

The reason, medical professionals say, COVID is increasing is it’s summer, which means people are staying inside and gathering and traveling more. At play in South Carolina is the fact the virus spreads best in heat and humidity.

Cases have risen each summer since the pandemic began in 2020, the CDC said.

Plus new variants keep forming.

Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told Scientific America a variant or subvariant comes about every six months or so.

The new strains are causing the same symptoms — cough, fever, fatigue — as the old, but they are more contagious, the CDC says.

What to do?

If you’re sick, stay home and away from everyone until symptoms go away and you have no fever for 24 hours without taking medication.

For the next five days, the CDC recommends wearing a mask and staying away from crowds.

Wash your hands frequently.