Madison - As elections took place Tuesday in six state Senate districts, Gov. Scott Walker privately signed legislation to redraw their boundaries along with the remaining legislative districts.

Walker waited until nearly the last possible moment to announce he had signed the legislation, which will give Republicans an advantage in the upcoming 2012 elections for both the Legislature and Congress.

"The maps passed by the Legislature meet the objective criteria laid out by the courts, including communities of interest, fair minority representation and compact, contiguous districts," Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said in a brief statement announcing the bill signings.

The Republican governor had until the end of the business day Tuesday to sign or veto the redistricting legislation.

If Walker had simply taken no action Tuesday, the measure would have become law automatically. That's because governors have six days, except Sundays, to act on a bill by signing it or vetoing it, according to the state constitution.

With the maps now approved, the fight over redistricting moves to the courts, where a federal lawsuit already has been filed.

Redistricting is required every 10 years to account for population shifts recorded by the U.S. census. Wisconsin gained about 323,000 people in the 2000s, bringing its total population to about 5.7 million.

Republicans moved the maps quickly through the Legislature last month, ensuring that the bills would pass even if the Democrats succeeded in taking control of the state Senate in Tuesday's recall elections.

Setting district boundaries can give one party an advantage over the other by packing like-minded voters into certain areas. The maps, for instance, would make three state Senate seats in southeastern Wisconsin significantly more Republican.

Democrats criticized Walker for signing the bill in private on the day of the recall votes.

"It is now clear that Gov. Walker signed these redistricting maps into law in a manner intended to hide his actions with only one goal in mind: giving himself and his fellow Republicans a monopoly on power in our state and dodging accountability for their anti-middle-class extremism," Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said in a statement.

Republicans have said they are simply doing their jobs to draw districts that fulfill the constitutional promise of one person, one vote. They noted that some Republicans are displeased with the maps, saying that's a sign they weren't drawn just to help members of their party.

Often done by courts

In recent decades, most redistricting has been done by the courts because control of state government has been split between the two parties.

Courts drew Wisconsin's legislative maps in the 1960s, 1990s and early 2000s, according to a 2007 report to the state Supreme Court. In 1971, the Legislature approved a map only after facing a deadline imposed by the state Supreme Court. In 1982, federal judges drew the maps, but Democrats tweaked them in 1983 after gaining control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office.

Fifteen citizens, including two Democratic former legislators, filed a federal lawsuit over redistricting last month, even before Republicans made their maps public. Opponents see that suit as their best chance to alter the Republican maps, though other legal actions could still be filed.

Anticipating a legal fight, Republicans hired Michael Best & Friedrich and the Troupis Law Office to consult on drawing the maps. State taxpayers have paid the firms $350,000 so far this year.

Previously, the Legislature wasn't allowed under state law to draw legislative and congressional maps until local governments had drawn ones for county boards and common councils. But Republican lawmakers and Walker approved legislation that allowed them to create their maps before the local ones.

That legislation also dictates that the state Supreme Court create a three-judge panel to hear any challenges to the map. Those involved in the pending lawsuit say they don't expect that change to affect their case because it was filed in federal court.