Madison - When Assembly leaders last week wanted to hire an attorney and add new costs to the $1.9 million already spent on a legal fight over legislative districts, they didn't call an open committee meeting.

Instead, GOP leaders circulated a paper ballot with bare-bones public notice and cast the party-line 5-3 committee vote quietly, ignoring an amendment that would have capped the fees for attorneys. Basic details such as the law firm's hourly rate will be left up to Republican leaders with no further vote.

Paper ballots have arrived in the Assembly, completing a legislative comeback they started in the Senate four years ago. Last week alone, eight separate votes were taken by paper ballot in the Legislature. Last session, the Senate took 320 committee votes that way, including some on controversial bills such as limiting liability lawsuits, putting new restrictions on abortions and removing the enrollment cap on a long-term care program for the needy.

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Both the Senate and Assembly used paper ballots on party-line votes last month to approve hiring the law firm of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek to help deal with what has already been a costly litigation over new legislative maps drawn by GOP lawmakers in 2011. The vote was taken before a contract with the law firm had been completed, and Democrats such as Rep. Andy Jorgensen of Fort Atkinson and Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson of Milwaukee complained that they were being asked to vote without being told details such as the firm's hourly rate.