Metro East Sun

Republican state Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) is leading the charge in the GOP’s demand for transparency in the map redistricting process.

“Today my colleagues and I are standing in front of a locked door where politicians are literally walking in and selecting their voters,” Bourne said during a May 6 news conference. “Our Democratic colleagues have called for a fair process; we keep hearing this over and over that they're committed to a transparent process. The governor himself has said that he wants a transparent process and what we see today and what we saw and reported last night is literally the opposite of a transparent process.”

Bourne and company have  accused Democrats of meeting in secret to map out strategy as the once-in-a-decade task of map redistricting grows near.

“They are going behind a closed, locked door to pick their voters,” she said. “Gov. Pritzker previously endorsed a fair map process and went so far as to say that he would veto a map that was drawn by politicians, partisans or their staff. We are literally getting to witness politicians, partisans and their staff walk behind a locked door and draw the map.”

The job of redistricting, usually based on U.S. Census figures, typically falls on the party in power but with government data not expected to be available before a June 30 deadline this cycle largely because of COVID, GOP lawmakers are hoping to have more of a voice in the process this time around.

“My question to the governor is is this the transparent process that you envisioned when you talked to voters when you ran for office?” she said. “Is this the kind of map that you're going to be comfortable signing? This new map matters and has huge consequences for the next decade and if we are seeing this kind of backroom process play out then this is not one that empowers voters. It is not one where those who came to our over 20 hearings don't have a seat at the table. We don't have a seat at the table and this certainly isn't an independent commission that we have all called for.”