Governor JB Pritzker has signed new maps of the state’s Legislature and Supreme Court to celebrate because they reflect the diversity of the state.
“Illinois’s strength lies in our diversity, and these maps help ensure that communities that have been marginalized and left behind have fair representation in our government,” said Pritzker. “These district boundaries are in accordance with both state and federal suffrage laws that help our diverse communities have electoral power and fair representation.”
The Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 requires state lawmakers to hold minority groups together when they are large enough to exercise power in elections. The state constitution also requires that the districts be compact, contiguous and essentially equally populated.
Throughout the spring, Democrats and Pritzker said they wanted to create maps that are representative of the diversity of Illinois. After Pritzker signed the cards, House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch, D-Hillside, said in a statement that the new cards ensure that “Illinois remains a role model for the nation in minority representation.
“Today was a victory for the people of this great state,” said Welch. “With Governor Pritzker’s signature, the people of Illinois can count on a map of the law that reflects the diversity we see in every corner of our state.”
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With the signing of new maps for the Illinois Supreme Court, the state will have new districts for the Supreme Court for the first time since 1963. Democrats said the court reorganization was necessary to reflect population shifts across the state over the past 50 years and to make the counties more equitable among the population.
The cards were first released for public entry on May 21, after over 40 public hearings in March and April. After four more public hearings two days earlier, some revisions were made on May 25th. The legislature later sent the cards to Pritzker on May 25th.
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Republican lawmakers urged Pritzker to veto the cards, routinely mentioning a 2018 election pledge saying he would veto any card drawn by lawmakers or their staff. House minority leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said he believed Pritzker would keep his campaign promise.
“Today Governor Pritzker broke that promise,” said Durkin. “Governor Pritzker, you are sold out. And Governor, not only did you sell out, you lied.
In an interview with The State Journal-Register on Thursday, Pritzker said his “goal had been to get lawmakers to make a constitutional change. What I was trying to do was push lawmakers and push people who didn’t get fair cards want a constitutional amendment. I was hoping we could do that, but that didn’t happen, so now we’re in a situation where we have to come up with a map and have it ready before June 30th. “
Republicans also say the cards were drawn to give Democrats an advantage in the election.
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“The very legislation that the Democrats tabled in the General Assembly says they drew these cards biased,” said Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield. “Just what the governor said he would veto.”
House Redistricting Committee Chair Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, said in the May 28 floor debate that partisan advantage is a factor in some map decisions.
More: How Are You Counted? Dispute over data at the center of the census redistribution debate
While Pritzker and other Democrats say the cards comply with federal and state voting laws, Republicans say using data from the American Community Survey instead of full U.S. census data could be the basis for a lawsuit.
“The use of inaccurate, inaccurate data clearly deviates from one person, one vote,” said Senate minority leader Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods.
Community organizations active in the redistribution hearings, such as CHANGE Illinois, were not convinced that the map reflected the diversity of the state.
“As emerged from the final hearings and reassignment statements released in response to the Illinois General Assembly’s map proposals, various communities across the state – Black, Latinx, Asian American, Muslim, Jewish, elderly, young, urban, and rural – declined these cards, “CHANGE Illinois said in a statement.” These cards do not give us a fair representation for the next 10 years. “
Former Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Springfield, Kent Redfield, said by signing the cards, Pritzker is robbing Republicans of any chance of getting a bipartisan commission to draw the card, which would have happened if the governor didn’t get the cards by June 30, the cards were challenged, any changes the court might ask could have been made without the involvement of Republican lawmakers.
McConchie said Republicans would review their legal options in the coming weeks.
While Republicans condemn Pritzker for signing the cards and Democrats go on a winning streak, Redfield said Pritzker’s decision was not of paramount importance to voters and the political ramifications were difficult to gauge. However, he said Pritzker’s signing of the cards could be part of the greater criticism of him in re-election.
“It’s one more thing that Pritzker doesn’t need in terms of the luggage he’s carrying for the 2022 elections,” Redfield said.
The new map brings multiple Republicans to the same district, including Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Spingfield and Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville.
Candidates for the 2022 election will run for positions in new counties created by the new map. They come into force when the legislature is sworn in for its next term in January 2023. If Pritzker signs another bill moving the Illinois 2022 prime date to June, candidates will be able to run from March 2022.
The state’s new congressional map will be created and published later this year.
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