MILWAUKEE (AP) -- After a two-day delay, a federal trial in a case involving the state's new voter maps is now set to begin Thursday.
The case deals with redistricting. That's the process in which, once a decade, lawmakers modify that maps that determine how boundary lines are drawn between voting districts.
GOP lawmakers approved maps last year that have been signed into law. However, Democrats and a Latino group sued, alleging the maps divided certain blocs of voters and thereby weakened their voting power.
The judges twice tried to have lawyers in the case appeal to lawmakers to voluntarily revisit the issue. A court clerk said Wednesday the latest attempt failed, and now both sides will prepare for a trial expected to last from Thursday morning to late Friday evening.
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MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A trial to determine whether the state's new election maps are constitutional has been delayed by a number of issues, including an assertion by lawmakers that the state Constitution prevents them from making changes to the maps approved last year.
A panel of three federal judges asked both sides Tuesday to spend the day determining whether lawmakers would consider drawing new maps to address concerns of Democrats and an immigrant-rights group.
Attorney Daniel Kelly said the state Constitution only allows lawmakers to draw new voter lines once every 10 years, and the issue can't be revisited until the next U.S. Census numbers are out.
An attorney for the plaintiffs disagreed, saying state law only requires that new voter maps be completed in the first legislative session. He says this first legislative session hasn't ended.
That matter is only a secondary issue for now. The judges will decide Wednesday whether Jim Troupis, an attorney for lawmakers, can be deposed. Troupis' name surfaced in emails linked to the voter-map issue, but he has said his communications are protected by attorney-client privilege.
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MILWAUKEE (WKOW) -- Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in Milwaukee regarding a federal case that could affect the potential recall elections in Wisconsin.
The case will take up the topic of redistricting, where lawmakers create new boundaries for voting districts every 10 years to account for population changes.
The Republicans who control the Legislature drew and approved the latest Wisconsin maps last year.
But several Democrats and an immigrant-rights group have sued over the new maps. They say they're unconstitutional because they break up minority blocs. The new boundaries also move an unnecessarily large number of people into a different district.
The plaintiffs want the three-judge panel to invalidate the maps. They're also asking for any potential recall elections held this year to use the maps from 2002.
