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Baltimore City Council Approves New District Map

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's new map of the city's council districts has gotten final approval from the council.

Eleven council members and Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young voted for the plan at a Monday meeting. Councilwoman Belinda Conaway, Councilman James B. Kraft and Councilman Carl Stokes opposed it.

Conaway and Kraft had complained that the new map dilutes the power of black and Hispanic voters in some neighborhoods. Conaway and some civil rights leaders have threatened to sue.

But mayoral spokesman Ryan O'Doherty disagreed with those claims and says the plan can stand up to a legal challenge.

The city charter requires that a redistricting plan by approved by April 1. Voters in the fall council elections will pick candidates based on the new districts.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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