Republicans U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, of Taylorville, state Sen. Jason Barickman, and state Rep. Dan Brady, both of Bloomington, held a press conference in uptown Normal about the Democratic-proposed legislative redistricting map. SIERRA HENRY NORMAL — Illinois Republicans on Wednesday urged Gov. J.B. Pritzker to “uphold his promise” and veto a Democrat-proposed state legislative redistricting
Republicans U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, of Taylorville, state Sen. Jason Barickman, and state Rep. Dan Brady, both of Bloomington, held a press conference in uptown Normal about the Democratic-proposed legislative redistricting map.
NORMAL — Illinois Republicans on Wednesday urged Gov. J.B. Pritzker to “uphold his promise” and veto a Democrat-proposed state legislative redistricting map.
“What we saw in Springfield these last two weeks was an absolute mockery of fair and transparent redistricting processes,” U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said Wednesday afternoon during a press conference in uptown Normal.
The proposed legislative redistricting map on Friday passed through both houses and now heads to Pritzker’s desk for approval. The Senate passed the map 41-18 and the House approved it 71-45, with only Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, center, speaks during a press conference Wednesday in Normal with state Rep. Dan Brady, left, and Sen. Jason Barickman.
Pritzker, a Democrat, has not said whether he plans to approve the map, but has said he would veto “an unfair map.” He has not given details on what an unfair map would entail.
As a Democratic candidate for governor in 2018, Pritzker said he wanted an independent, nonpartisan commission to create the districts.
Davis was joined on Wednesday by Republican state Sen. Jason Barickman and Rep. Dan Brady, both of Bloomington. The lawmakers pointed to an interview Pritzker had during his campaign for governor.
In this interview, when asked about redistricting, Pritzker committed to “vetoing any legislative map drawn by politicians,” said Davis. Pritzker also spoke in support of creating an independent commission to redraw legislative maps.
Barickman criticized the process, which he said was done behind closed doors, and for using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015-2019 American Community Survey Data. He said the data was inaccurate and flawed.
“The sole purpose of these gerrymandered maps is to maintain one party control in the iron-type grip the Democrats have on our state,” he said. “Gov. Pritzker has the sole power alone to change this. These are politician-drawn maps that do not allow Illinoisans to be represented.”
State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, right, criticized Democrat lawmakers over their proposed legislative redistricting map during a press conference on Wednesday in uptown Normal. Barickman joined U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, left, in calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to veto the proposed map.
Barickman said the majority of Illinoisans want an independent redistricting process. He said the redistricting affects not only state elections, but elections on a national level by limiting voter choice in candidates.
That is why, Barickman said, it is important for Illinois lawmakers to keep the focus on the people and ensure fair representation.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday spoke to reporters about the legislative remapping process.
Democrats have defended the use of the ACS data, which they said was off by a fraction of a percentage. It was used in lieu of the delayed release of the 2020 census redistricting data that would typically be used.
The result, Republican lawmakers said Wednesday, is a gerrymandered legislative map.
“Politicians shouldn’t be picking their constituents,” said Brady. “Constituents should be picking their politicians, their representatives, their senators, under a fair map process.
“This isn’t good government, ladies and gentlemen.”
A guide to political redistricting in Illinois
What’s at stake for voters?
At stake is who will represent voters in Springfield and in Washington. The process has raised questions of fairness and whether it ends up with politicians picking their voters rather than voters picking their representatives.
In 2014 and 2016, signature-gathering efforts were made to change the state constitution to create an appointed commission to redistrict the legislature, taking the process out of the hands of lawmakers and removing much of the political influence in drawing map lines.
But the legal requirements for putting citizen-initiative proposals on the ballot for voters to ratify a proposed state constitutional amendment are extremely narrow. A Cook County judge tossed the 2014 effort, and the Illinois Supreme Court’s Democratic majority voted 4-3 to reject the 2016 effort. In both cases the courts found the proposals went beyond the “structural and procedural” changes allowed for citizen-driven proposals to amend the state constitution.
What is redistricting?
Redistricting is the once-every-decade process of redrawing a state’s political boundaries to reflect population changes after the completion of the decennial federal census.
The process this year will be complicated by delays of getting refined granular census data to the states. That will force many states, including Illinois, to look at using alternative data sources and estimates to redraw map lines. Illinois’ constitution does not require the use of the census data in drawing maps.
How does it work in Illinois?
In Illinois, redistricting is a two-step process, one for redrawing the districts of the state’s 118 House and 59 Senate seats, another for remapping the state’s congressional district boundaries. Currently, under Democratic-drawn maps, Democrats hold majorities over Republicans of 72-45 in the Illinois House, 41-18 in the Illinois Senate and 13-5 in the U.S. House delegation.
Redistricting is traditionally the most political procedure conducted by Illinois lawmakers, the maps’ boundaries a determinant for which political party will control the General Assembly for the next decade as well as partisan control of the state’s congressional delegation in Washington.
The process is complicated, legally technical and often messy. Federal and state laws, and judicial rulings require provisions for racial and ethnic representation, keeping communities of shared interest intact and for districts to be compact, contiguous and as equal in population as possible.
Complying with those requirements in a diverse state, along with partisan political factors, is what prevents districts from simply resembling squares and instead result in odd jagged jigsaw-puzzle-shaped boundaries.
Drawing boundaries based solely on favoring a political party is known as gerrymandering. But legal requirements to design districts to guarantee a chance for representation by racial and ethnic groups is a form of legal gerrymandering that has been upheld by the courts.
Here’s how the state legislative redistricting process works
The state constitution prescribes the process for redistricting General Assembly districts but not congressional representation. For the state legislative remap, lawmakers have until June 30 to approve a map that is put into law. If they fail to meet that deadline, an eight-member commission is formed, made up of two members selected by each of the four partisan leaders of the Illinois House and Senate, to come up with a new map by Aug. 10. If that fails, a ninth partisan tiebreaking member of the commission is chosen by Sept. 5. A new map must be submitted by Oct. 5.
The drafters of the 1970 state constitution thought the tiebreaker provision would never be used by leaving the high stakes of partisan control to chance and force the eight-member commission to come up with an agreed-upon map. Instead, the eight-member panel reached agreement only in 1971. The tiebreaker was implemented in 1981, 1991 and 2001. Democrats won the draw in 1981 and 2001, Republicans in 1991.
Because Democrats controlled the General Assembly and governor’s office in 2011, a map was approved and signed into law by the June 30 deadline. Democrats control the legislature and governor’s office, meaning Republicans this time around will have little input into the legislative mapmaking process.
What’s at stake for politicians and lawmakers?
What’s at stake for politicians in Illinois is the opportunity to shape their own districts, ideally looking for the most politically favorable boundaries that avoid the prospect of a strong challenge from the opposing party.
At the same time, redistricting presents the controlling party with the opportunity to diminish representation from the opposing party by reducing areas favorable to them or forcing them to run against each other for the same district.
Here’s how the congressional redistricting process works
The basic process for congressional redistricting is different from legislative redistricting because the number of U.S. House districts in Illinois depends on population changes around the nation. Illinois now has 18 U.S. House seats, but is expected to lose one and perhaps two seats due to population losses in Illinois coupled with gains elsewhere, mainly in southern states, over the last decade.
The congressional mapmaking process is not prescribed by the state constitution, but state lawmakers have the power to draw the maps so under federal law. Lawmakers failed to come up with congressional maps in 1971, 1981 and 1991, leaving the task to a panel of three federal judges selected from nominees made by Democrats and Republicans as well as other interests.
In 2001, the legislature left the process to the state’s congressional delegation to draw a compromise map, which state lawmakers then approved. In 2011, with Democrats in control of the legislature and governor’s office, as is the case now, a congressional map was approved.
The Illinois House and Senate have scheduled several hearings around the state to take public input into the mapmaking process. But regardless of the outcome, both the legislative and congressional maps are all but certain to face court challenges.
Contact Sierra Henry at 309-820-3234. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_sierrahenry.
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