Legislative redistricting “is the single most important bill of the decade,” according to Chris Mooney, University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former director of the U of I’s Institute for Government and Public Affairs.
The party in control of passing a redistricting bill shapes state and federal legislative races and representation for the next 10 years. Previous maps are criticized for voter and geographic manipulation, otherwise known as gerrymandering, of which both parties have been guilty. The U.S. Census Bureau has said, due to delays because of the pandemic, it will report redistricting data by Sept. 30. That’s far beyond deadlines set by the state Constitution for state legislators to draw maps.
Every 10 years, Illinois state legislators have until the end of June to remap. If the House and Senate cannot reach an agreement, an eight-member redistricting commission is appointed by legislative leaders, which then has until Aug. 10 to file a new map with the Illinois Secretary of State. The commission is supposed to be nonpartisan, but that has not been the case in recent decades. In 1971, the Illinois House speaker, minority leader and Senate president appointed themselves and legislative aids as “nonpartisan” members, according to a report published by the Legislative Research Unit.
Per the state Constitution, if the commission cannot agree on a map by Aug. 10, one person representing each party would be chosen by the Illinois Supreme Court and have one of their names pulled from a replica of Lincoln’s hat. The new member would serve as the tiebreaker on the commission, which would have until Oct. 5 to approve a final map. The last time this happened was in 2001.
Expected delays in census data could mean Lincoln’s hat decides the map drawn this year. “The delayed data is going to be a huge problem for Illinois,” said Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, on Feb. 12. He introduced a bill that would establish a new redistricting committee made up of 11 members – legislators and residents. Opponents say the change would be unconstitutional. Butler argues the change would be a way to keep both parties from gerrymandering. “I think this is an avenue we should explore because it would be easier to get a law set up than it would be to get a constitutional amendment up on the ballot in the state of Illinois,” said Butler.
“The Illinois Supreme Court will play a crucial role in this,” Mooney said. Maps drawn without certified data and legislation seeking to change redistricting deadlines or processes could be challenged in court. Mooney said late census data delivery is a serious issue for legislators, but it will be hard to convince the state’s highest court this is an emergency. And even though Illinois Republicans have introduced legislation to remap differently this year, Democrats are the ones in power. That is, unless the Secretary of State pulls a name out of Lincoln’s hat, in which case the chances of Republicans controlling the redistricting process goes from 0% to 50%.
As legislators scheme, good government advocates are calling for a virtual redistricting commission and a process accessible to the public. The redistricting process in Illinois “has always been done behind closed doors and there has never been an opportunity for this kind of openness, so it would definitely be an improvement,” said Brad McMillan, executive director of the Institute for Principled Leadership and co-chair of CHANGE Illinois.
CHANGE Illinois is a nonprofit advocacy coalition founded in 2009 that works with other organizations like AARP Illinois, Chicago Votes and the Better Government Association to try to transform the mapping process. McMillan said the state has a reputation of drawing lines that protect incumbents. The group aims to end gerrymandering and make legislative races more competitive.
McMillan said when legislators voted on maps 10 years ago there were only 24 hours between when final maps were released and a vote took place. “That obviously didn’t give anybody meaningful time to give feedback,” McMillan said. He said he hopes that improvements could still be made this year in order to better include the public in the politics of redistricting.
Contact Madison Angell at mangell@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Blight fight.
