PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The race is on to redraw Maine’s two congressional districts in time for the 2012 elections.

Lawyers have submitted proposals to a panel of three federal judges on how the process should proceed, and legislators have drawn up an order to establish a 15-member commission to do the work.

The state has proposed that the lines be redrawn and approved by the Legislature by Dec. 1, while the Maine Democratic Party has suggested an Oct. 17 deadline. The plaintiffs in a lawsuit that forced the districts to be reapportioned aren’t specifying a date.

The three-judge panel could rule this week on how the process will move forward.

The judges last week ordered the state to redraw the district boundaries before next year’s elections instead of waiting until the 2014 elections.