A federal appeals court put off a decision until next month on whether to put Wisconsin's voter ID law back in place.

The Justice Department on Wednesday sided with challengers of voting laws in Wisconsin and Ohio, saying in court filings that measures in those states unfairly affect minority voters.

A deeply divided Supreme Court threw out the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, a decision deplored by the White House but cheered by mostly Southern states now free from nearly 50 years of intense federal oversight of their elections.

The Supreme Court said Friday it will consider eliminating the government's most potent weapon against racial discrimination at polling places since the 1960s. The court acted three days after a diverse coalition of voters propelled President Barack Obama to a second term in the White House.

The U.S. Justice Department says it will monitor elections in Wisconsin and three other states this week to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The law prohibits discrimination in the election process.

A federal court on Tuesday asked the parties in a lawsuit over two Milwaukee voting districts to collaborate on drawing new boundaries, a request that means legislators won't be called back into a special session to redraw the maps themselves.

Wisconsin lawmakers will have to redraw voting maps for two Milwaukee districts because their first effort violated the federal Voting Rights Act by unfairly weakening Hispanic voting rights, a panel of federal judges ruled Thursday.

11-713, 11-714 & 11-715 Perry v.Perez