Metro East Sun

Every decade, the Illinois legislative districts must be remapped to accommodate for fluctuating population numbers. The process is typically done with data from the U.S. Census, but with those numbers delayed until September lawmakers are at risk of not meeting the constitutionally mandated deadline for the remapping. 

Adding to the complications, Republican legislators feel the remapping duty should be placed in the hands of an independent bipartisan committee of Illinois residents, and complain that the Democrats controlling the Statehouse have more political motives than they do a feeling of civic duty in the remapping. 

"[...] If the governor holds to his promise to veto any partisanly-drawn map, then he needs to come out and say that now so that the legislature knows that this is a fool's errand to keep going with this redistricting process in a partisan way," said state Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Pawnee) at a redistricting hearing, according to an April 13 WTTW Chicago report. 

Republicans want the governor to stand by his original pledge to veto a map drawn by legislators as Democrats continue to march forward with committee meetings and hearings to complete the redistricting, which must be done by June 30 or will be passed off to an independent bipartisan commission. 

Pritzker promised during his election campaign that he would veto an unfair map proposal for this decade's redistricting. However, WCIA News reported on April 12 that the governor signaled his support of the new maps drawn by Democrats before the Illinois census data was fully available; the news station called this change of heart "the biggest flip-flop of [Pritzker's] political career."

Polls have shown that the public supports the idea of an independent commission deciding the state's districts rather than politicians. 

"When asked, Illinoisians overwhelmingly favor an independent redistricting solution over the current hyper-partisan, power play process currently in place," said political columnist Marko Zukovic in an April 5 article on Medium. "Realizing this, certain high-profile Illinois Democrats, running in relatively competitive districts, have made public proclamations voicing their support for redistricting reform that puts an end to partisan gerrymandering and maps drawn with the sole purpose of protecting incumbents."