MADISON – Wisconsin's attorney general on Monday asked the nation's high court to block a ruling that would force lawmakers to draw new legislative maps by November.

A panel of three federal judges ruled 2-1 last fall that lawmakers had drawn maps for the state Assembly that were so heavily skewed for Republicans as to violate the voting rights of Democrats. The judges ordered the state to develop new maps by November.

GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in February and the state is waiting to hear if the justices will hold arguments in the case.

On Monday, Schimel asked the high court to block the requirement to develop new maps by Nov. 1, contending legislators should not have to draw new lines unless the Supreme Court agrees with the three-judge panel that the existing maps are unconstitutional.

“Wisconsin should not be required to invest the considerable time, effort and taxpayer resources required to redraw district maps, especially when the case is likely to be reversed,” Schimel said in a statement.

Sachin Chheda, a spokesman for the Fair Elections Project that has backed the lawsuit, said the Supreme Court should let the ruling stand so neutral maps can be drawn well before the fall 2018 elections.

"These guys will go to the ends of the earth to defend their unfair maps," Chheda said of Schimel and his aides.