Peoria Standard

The deadline for Illinois lawmakers to finalize this decade's new legislative map is fast approaching, and state Republicans are no closer to approving the Democrats' approach to the remapping duty. 

Redrawing of Illinois legislative districts must be done once every 10 years and is constitutionally mandated to be complete by June 30. However, a multitude of special circumstances this year have fostered concern that the remapping can't be — and shouldn't be — done by that deadline. Circumstances include the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic delaying U.S. Census data, and the suspicion that the Democratic-controlled legislature is using the remapping for gerrymandering and political gain.

"There’s only one reason that we would not use Census data to draw legislative maps and that is so the Democrats can ram through a partisan map right now before the June 30 deadline so they can avoid the need to work together," House Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) said in an April 21 WMBD video. 

Spain isn't the first and likely not the last lawmaker to question motives behind the scramble to remap when judicial avenues to bypass the deadline are available. Some Democratic legislators have denounced politicians remapping the districts but backpedaled once the time to do so approached. 

In 2016 current House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch said in an op-ed that an independent remapping commission would be a "win-win" and a solution to a process that “has often been criticized as too political and one where voters are left without a voice," according to a Chicago Tribune editorial. 

Welch stated that a committee to remap the districts without political control would prevent the gerrymandering that has plagued the state for decades and lumps minority populations for a politician's gain and to dilute representation, but "now that Welch in a position to make real change, to lead on an issue that has sidelined voters for so long, that passionate op-ed is forgotten. Politics has taken the lead instead," according to the Tribune. 

If the statehouse can't finalize the maps by June 30, the process will be deferred to an independent commission. 

Critics feel that engagement in the redistricting hearings have been minimal at best. 

“I testified at the hearing and it’s the process itself,” former House candidate Marco Sukovic told the Prairie State Wire earlier this month. “It’s not one that engaged the public in any meaningful, substantive manner. I asked the senate redistricting committee to give me two figures. The first how many people have participated in these hearings to date – keep in mind they are about halfway through with these hearings – and they told me only 46 people have. You’re thinking about a state of over 12 million people and only 46 people have participated.”