SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A three-judge federal court panel on Tuesday ruled the legislative redistricting plan signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June — before data from the 2020 Census was available — was unconstitutional because population variances in some districts violated the “one-person, one-vote” doctrine.
The federal court in Chicago did not order that a bipartisan redistricting commission be created to redraw the legislative maps, as Republicans had hoped. Instead, the panel said maps signed by Gov. Pritzker in September would be a “starting point” in creating a new legislative map.
The panel suggested that plaintiffs in cases challenging Illinois’ redistricting process, including Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, should to come up with their maps.
Two lawsuits, filed in June, argued that Illinois’ legislative maps, pushed through the General Assembly by Democratic leaders in the spring, violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The maps approved in the spring were based on population estimates from the American Community Survey, since official numbers from the 2020 Census weren’t out yet, due to the pandemic.
Official Census data wasn’t released until mid-August.
The federal court has given plaintiffs until November 8 to submit proposed revisions to a second set of legislative maps approved in June.
Defendants have until November 18 to respond to the proposed changes.
The next status hearing regarding the redistricting maps is set for November 5.
