South Carolina Senate votes to remove Confederate flag

Columbia - The South Carolina Senate has voted to remove the Confederate flag from a pole on Statehouse grounds.

Lawmakers had largely ignored the flag until the killing of nine black people during a Bible study at a historic African-American church on June 17.

The 37-3 vote on Monday allows the state to remove the flag and the flagpole where it flies as soon as it passes the state House of Representatives and is signed by Governor Nikki Haley.

The bill must pass a two-thirds vote, which is likely to be held on Tuesday.

The Confederate flag was raised atop the State House dome in 1961 as part of centennial commemorations of the Civil War.

Critics said that was a direct challenge to civil rights, voting rights and desegregation protests at the time.