Judges bar Wisconsin GAB from using new election maps

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A panel of federal judges has barred the state elections board from using new Republican-drawn election maps.

The decision Thursday marks at least a partial victory for Democrats and a Hispanic-rights group who argued the maps hurt minority voters.

The ruling says the new maps redrew two Milwaukee voting districts in a way that violates the Voting Rights Act. The ruling means the two specific districts will have to be redrawn.

Critics of the new maps had said the boundaries divided minority blocs and disenfranchised voters. Supporters argued it’s impossible to draw maps that please everyone.

Election boundaries have to be redrawn every 10 years to account for changes in the most recent.