Abigail Nichols was a witness during a recent joint hearing of the House and Senate Redistricting Committee. She made an appeal that legislators should draw maps fairly and suggested that this can be easily done when the Senate and House comply with the state Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.
“Redistricting ... is a way to say that every citizen has equal say through electing leaders who represent them. Republican votes, Green Party votes, Libertarian votes should all count as much as Democratic party votes.” Nichols said. “The votes of members of a minority community should count as much as the vote of a member of the majority community. Why am I here? I'm here to advocate for fair mapping. What questions do you all have of us to help you achieve fair mapping as the Illinois constitution requires? You haven't told us what you need to know so that you can give us a fair map.”
The Streeterville, Chicago, resident said that the public is “left guessing how to be part of this process.”
“You all are saying that you want to meet the constitutional deadline,” she said. “From that, I must infer that you don’t care about creating fair maps. I must infer that what you think is good for the Democratic Party is good for Illinois. You might be able to get fair maps with pre-census data but your intention to use this data implies to me unfortunately that you don't intend fair maps. We are living in the aftermath of four years of divisive national bullying. Americans everywhere want our country to unite around common goals.”
Nichols was looking for assurance from the state Democratic Party, “that they, too, want Illinois to unite.” She said that Illinoisans want to hear public statements from the politicians that their mapping strategy aims to “bring communities together.”
“So far I’m afraid I am not reassured,” she stated. “It appears that once again that party hegemony is more important than a shared assembly purpose to use redistricting as a vehicle to ensure that government can improve life for all Illinois residents. Please let me know that you hear that 75% of Illinoisans want fair mapping. Promise us you’ll draw maps that comply with the constitution’s requirements that legislative districts will be compact, contiguous, and with equal population. Start with the constitution and it will come easy to comply with the federal Civil Rights Act and the Illinois Voting Rights Act. Our democracy is in your hands.”
After the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2020 data, the state lost one of its 18 congressional districts because of a decrease in population.
The Illinois constitution sets a June 30 deadline for a new map to be drawn.
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