Metro East Sun

The deadline to finalize the state's new legislative district borders is quickly approaching and Democratic lawmakers insist that American Community Survey data is better for the task than official U.S. Census Data, despite widespread criticism of ACS. 

In an April 21 report by WCIA News, East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III blamed the pandemic for the supposed issues in the U.S. Census data, and said there have been challenges in getting minority populations counted.

Eastern said the city had gone through great engagement and advertising efforts to get underserved communities involved since the census forms were mailed right when the pandemic hit last year. The mayor said the pandemic was a "huge hurdle."

"We paid people to want to get out and get the word out," Eastern said. "We did the Facebook campaign, we did everything we could think of, but we just don't think we got in the doors like we needed to."

Critics also say that ACS data is more easily manipulated and less accurate; Republicans are frustrated that the official U.S. Census data is being tossed to the side and that many Democrats are backpedaling in their support of fair maps. 

House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch said in a 2016 op-ed that the longtime gerrymandering of minority populations in Illinois would be prevented by an independent remapping commission. He stated 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 however has been silent on independently drawn maps since getting elected to office. 

“I testified at the hearing and it’s the process itself,” former House candidate Marco Sukovic told the Lake County Gazette 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.”

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 and that only official U.S. Census data is appropriate for the redistricting. 

"With reapportionment figures from the Census Bureau due in April, the (Democratic Party) has pressed ahead with plans to meet the June 30 deadline without using data from the 2020 Census," Sukovic said. "It has argued that data from the American Community Survey and data provided by their redistricting software vendors is sufficient for purposes of redistricting. To provide cover for this overtly political power play, the Illinois Democratic House and Senate legislative caucuses are haphazardly throwing together redistricting subcommittee hearings across the state with the goal of providing a veneer of public input and participation in the process."