Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) and other Republican lawmakers continue their objections to the state governor now supporting politically-created redistricting maps. | Facebook
Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) and other Republican lawmakers continue their objections to the state governor now supporting politically-created redistricting maps. | Facebook
As the Democrat-led Senate moves forward to complete a new legislative district map for the governor's signature, Illinois Republican lawmakers criticized Gov. J.B. Pritzker for failing to uphold his promise of "fair maps."
Legislative district maps are redrawn every 10 years. As the majority party, the Democratic-led Senate must submit a map for the governor's signature by June 30 to keep a partisan advantage in the mapmaking process, according to NPR Illinois.
Illinois Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) took to Facebook to denounce Pritzker for going back on a pledge he made in 2018 while running for governor to support fair maps.
"While running for office, Governor Pritzker promised to veto any partisan legislative maps and urged lawmakers to create an independent commission to handle redistricting," Spain said in an April 28 Facebook post. "Yesterday he went back on his word and made it clear that he will not be supporting fair maps in Illinois."
In 2018, Pritzker vowed to veto any “unfair” map and said that the state’s constitution should be amended to establish an independent commission that would take over the map-making process. Since then, an independent commission has not been created, and Pritzker and other Democrats have merged definitions of “fair” and “unfair” maps in the last few months. They now say that maps should prioritize reflecting Illinois’ diversity and follow the federal Voting Rights Act and another similar Illinois state statute.
It is a common practice nationwide that the majority legislative party has more pull when creating redistricting maps. In Illinois, Democrats control the House, Senate and Governor's Office.
The Illinois constitution states that lawmakers and the governor have until June 30 to approve a map. If that deadline is missed, an eight-member bipartisan commission must be formed with four members from each party to finish redrawing the districts by Aug. 10.
Lawmakers typically use population data from the U.S. Census Bureau to inform the mapmaking process, but that data has been significantly delayed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alerts Sign-up