The South Carolina House has refused to remove the Confederate battle flag from atop the Statehouse dome, spurning Gov. David Beasley's call to transfer the banner to a nearby monument.

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The Republican-led House voted 72-45 Thursday to defeat Beasley's proposal, instead sending the issue to a special statewide election in November.The Legislature raised the flag in 1962 to honor the Civil War's centennial and then never took it down. Critics say it is racially divisive and a symbol of slavery; supporters say it honors Civil War dead.

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