The Illinois Capitol building. | Photo Courtesy of Jim Brown/Flickr
The Illinois Capitol building. | Photo Courtesy of Jim Brown/Flickr
The time has come for this decade's redrawing of Illinois' legislative district borders.
This time around, however, many circumstances are complicating the process, including delays in U.S. Census results, the COVID-19 pandemic and a Republican push to take the remapping responsibility away from state lawmakers and give it to an independent committee of residents.
Although Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised during his campaign that he would veto an unfair map proposal for this decade's redistricting, skeptics worry that the governor will change his tune now that the time has come. WCIA News reported on April 12 that Gov. Pritzker had indicated his support of the new maps drawn by Democrats before the Illinois census data was complete; the news station called this change of heart "the biggest flip-flop of [Pritzker's] political career."
"What we are doing right now will set the tone for the next decade in Illinois," Jay young of Chicago-based Common Cause said in an April 13 report from WTTW Chicago. "Figuring out who represents your interests and how you are really defining what your community is." Common Cause is an ethics and reform grassroots group,
Common Cause's website states the organization supports fair maps to provide complete, accurate counts of all communities with the protection of racial minorities, accessibility to decision-makers and use of improved Census data.
Young said that lawmakers are in a tricky spot with pressure to get the remapping done by the constitutionally mandated deadline of June 30, despite the official federal Census data not being available until September.
"The deck is really stacked against them," Young said. He noted that lawmakers could have gone to court to move the filing deadlines, map deadlines, and primary deadlines, but they didn't. "Sadly, they are making some bad choices, but I will admit they are in a very tough spot."
The site also says that Common Cause's principles for redistricting are supported by the ACLU, CHANGE Illinois, NAACP and many others.
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