In the News

Pioneer Local, March 18, 2010

With the 2010 Census on the horizon, Democratic state legislators are licking their chops at the prospect of controlling the decennial district remap process.

But the League of Women Voters of Illinois wants to change the rules. They are spearheading an "Illinois Fair Map Amendment" movement. They are attempting to pass a "citizens initiative" which would change the law on how the state's legislative districts are redrawn, based on 2010 Census data.

Jan Czarnik, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois, speaks about how state legislative maps are drawn during a forum at the village hall in Park Forest on March 6. "Neither political party wants a federal judge picking the map," Czarnik said. "Then they REALLY have no influence over what's going to happen."

'Picking their voters'

"We're supposed to be electing members of the General Assembly. They're not supposed to be picking their voters," said Jan Czarnik, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

As it stands, the Democratic and Republican leaders in the state get together to dictate each legislative district's voting electorate for the next 10 years. This regularly leads to the kind of gerrymandering that creates legislative districts that wind and bend, sometimes creating the most unusual shapes.

"So the members that they want to protect, they draw districts that virtually guarantee their reelection. And the members who have been thorns in their sides, their districts disappear," Czarnik said.

The non-partisan League wants to limit party leaders' powers to create a more fair process, she said.

"They can't, unfortunately, be taken out of the process altogether," Czarnik said, noting that legislators' involvement is written into the Illinois Constitution.

State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) said, "The process used in the past to determine legislative districts was extremely political and arbitrary. The best part of this process is that it won't be decided upon by key legislative leaders but instead by voters and citizens who are providing this input. This will result in a much more democratic process."

Barring an Amendment, the League has opted to attempt a citizen initiative, which puts the issue on a statewide ballot for voters to decide. It gives the residents of Illinois the opportunity to legislate from the voting booth, rather than the senators and representatives in the General Assembly.

The League of Women Voters and their supporters need 500,000 registered voters to sign their petition by April 30 to get the law on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Their plan would create a nine-member Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission -- two members chosen by each legislative party leader in both the House and Senate. The ninth member would be mutually agreed upon by the previous eight, meaning the parties would have to work together to form the Commission. Restrictions on the who the members can be minimize political influence.

If they can't come to an agreement on the ninth member, an out-of-state federal judge would step in and make a decision.

"Neither political party wants a federal judge picking the map," Czarnik said. "Then they REALLY have no influence over what's going to happen. We think they'd (work together to choose the ninth Commission member) out of self-interest."
High priority

Their plan would also "de-nest" Senate districts, which are made up of two complete House districts. Instead, the House and Senate maps would be created separately and would more fairly distribute voter demographics. It also puts a high priority on following municipal boundaries.

"You're able to draw more minority house districts, particularly House districts," Czarnik reasoned. "It's much harder to do that when you're fitting two House districts into one Senate district."

The League of Women Voters is partnered with several other agencies in the Fair Map effort, including the Better Government Association, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Farm Bureau and several former members of the Illinois Reform Commission, among others.

For more information, visit ilfairmap.com.