The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that South Carolina’s congressional map is legal and does not violate the rights of Black voters.

The 6-3 ruling upheld a map challenged by voter Taiwan Scott and the South Carolina NAACP, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and allied groups. Republican state lawmakers petitioned the high court to review a ruling from a three-judge district court panel that mandated South Carolina to redraw its 2022 congressional district map, the Washington Times reported.

After a nine-day trial, a federal court ruled that South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District had been drawn to dilute Black votes. However, the ruling was put on hold while the litigation was pending and will still be used in the 2024 elections.

The high court stated that the ruling lacked sufficient evidence and noted that the Black voting age population in the district remained around 17%, even as the Republican voter majority increased. The justices reasoned that partisan gerrymandering does not violate the Constitution, as long as race is not the predominant factor in drawing district lines, the Times continued.

“None of the facts on which the District Court relied to infer a racial motive is sufficient to support an inference that can overcome the presumption of legislative good faith,” wrote Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for the majority. He was joined by the five other high court conservatives.

The three Democratic appointees dissented, arguing that the district court’s analysis was thorough and that the unanimous finding by the three-judge panel indicated race was a motive in redrawing District 1. Therefore, they contended, the district lines should be redrawn.

“The proper response to this case is not to throw up novel roadblocks enabling South Carolina to continue dividing citizens along racial lines. It is to respect the plausible — no, the more than plausible — findings of the District Court that the state engaged in race-based districting. And to tell the state that it must redraw District 1, this time without targeting African American citizens,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan, who was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson in her dissent.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) represents the 1st Congressional District. The Times noted further that “more than 30,000 Black Democrats had their votes shifted to the 6th Congressional District, represented by Jim Clyburn, when the map was drawn.”

Clyburn is a Democrat.