However, Proposition 106, passed in 2000, delegated the power to draw congressional and legislative boundaries to a bipartisan independent commission.

The court's 4-to-3 decision, released today, preserves current legislative boundaries until the next census, and it ensures that the election season now under way will not be disrupted.

'They'll Vote for Anything' With legislative boundaries that cross town and village lines, the average legislator represents about 75,000 people.

The legislative boundaries included 17,000 developed lots encompassing a 110+ square mile area, along with citrus grove and sugar cane production.

The Supreme Court said states may consider overall minority influence in the political process, not just the number of minority voters in a district, when drawing legislative boundaries.

In the wake of the 2000 census, candidates for governor and even obscure state legislators who would have a hand in drawing new legislative boundaries received unprecedented attention.

The stall gave Republicans four extra weeks to reformulate, or "redistrict", Wisconsin's legislative boundaries, as required by every decade's census count.

Political strategists believe adjustments using the sampling data would give Democrats an advantage when legislative boundaries are drawn.

This year's elections were particularly important because the newly elected Board will redraw legislative boundaries based on the 2000 census.

The state Legislature is in the process of redrawing federal and state legislative boundaries.