SHARE Mary Lazich Dale Schultz Jeff Fitzgerald

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Madison - A Senate committee indefinitely delayed its vote Tuesday on a bill that would make it harder to recall Republican state lawmakers, assuring the controversial measure will not pass in the short term.

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Elections was to vote Tuesday on that bill and one that would require any recall petitions that are submitted to be notarized. But Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), author of the bills and chairwoman of the committee, canceled votes on them.

As a result, the Republican-controlled Senate will not take up the bills when it meets Wednesday, the last day senators are slated to meet until January. That means Democrats who hope to launch recalls against Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans this month will likely do so under existing recall rules.

On Tuesday morning, Lazich said she was delaying the committee's vote by a day. But after meeting behind closed doors with members of her party, she canceled Wednesday's committee meeting.

Lazich's bill would put into effect new districts for senators almost right away, instead of November 2012 as current law requires. Those new districts favor Republicans, and holding recall elections in them would give them a better shot at preserving their majority. The bill would keep Assembly districts in place until November 2012, as scheduled.

Democrats say treating the two houses differently is a sign Republicans are trying to protect themselves.

Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) said this week he would vote against the bill if it got to the Senate floor, leaving Republicans short on votes to pass the measure.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) also made clear Tuesday that the redistricting bill will not pass his house, either.

"It's not going to happen over here," Fitzgerald said.

States are required to draw new political boundaries every 10 years to account for population shifts recorded by the U.S. census. A group of Democrats has challenged Wisconsin's new maps in federal court, and the case is expected to go to trial early next year.

On Tuesday, a second lawsuit was filed over the new maps by the Latino rights group Voces de la Frontera.

Another bill Lazich's committee had intended to vote on would require recall petitions to be notarized before they are submitted. Democrats argued that would do nothing to prevent fraud while creating more hurdles to recalling elected officials.

Lazich's decision to delay the committee's vote on that bill leaves its fate uncertain.