Judges to decide on Milwaukee district map

Three federal judges ruled Tuesday they will choose between competing election maps in Milwaukee if the state and the groups suing it can't reach an agreement. The judges said a 16-16 split in the Legislature on approving the election maps for Districts 8 and 9 on Milwaukee's south side meant the court would have to make the final decision on the maps, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The court ruled Thursday the maps -- which are redrawn every 10 years to account for population changes -- violated the federal Voting Rights Act because they diminished the voting power of Latinos in the city. A group of Democrats and the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera brought the matter to the court's attention, the newspaper said. The groups and the state of Wisconsin must agree on changes to the districts or the judges said they would choose between the groups' competing maps. Any parties outside the case are free to submit a redrawn map as long as it doesn't affect surrounding districts, the newspaper said.