HELENA-WEST HELENA — Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and a state lawmaker who says a redistricting panel improperly lowered the number of black voters in his district are expected to testify in federal court.

McDaniel and state Sen. Jack Crumbly were scheduled to testify Wednesday before a three-judge panel hearing testimony in the redistricting lawsuit. Crumbly and a group of east Arkansas residents sued the Board of Apportionment and accused the panel of diluting the black vote in the district.

The board is comprised of McDaniel, Gov. Mike Beebe and Secretary of State Mark Martin. McDaniel and Beebe are Democrats who voted for the redistricting plan, and Martin is a Republican who opposed it.

Crumbly is a Democrat who faces state Rep. Keith Ingram in the May 22 primary.