Survey: Confederate flag removal push reaches key milestone in SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A survey of South Carolina legislators shows there’s enough support to remove the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds if all supporters cast a vote.

The Post and Courier newspaper, the South Carolina Press Association and The Associated Press asked all lawmakers how they intend to vote. At least 33 senators and 82 House members say they the flag should go.

That appears to meet the two-thirds majority needed from both chambers to move the battle flag. That rule is part of the 2000 compromise that took the flag off the Statehouse dome and put a square version beside a monument to Confederate soldiers.

The flag push follows the shooting deaths of nine people at a black church in Charleston. The pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among the dead.