What is redistricting?
Redistricting is the once-every-decade process of redrawing a state’s political boundaries to reflect population changes after the completion of the decennial federal census.
The process this year will be complicated by delays of getting refined granular census data to the states. That will force many states, including Illinois, to look at using alternative data sources and estimates to redraw map lines. Illinois’ constitution does not require the use of the census data in drawing maps.
How does it work in Illinois?
In Illinois, redistricting is a two-step process, one for redrawing the districts of the state’s 118 House and 59 Senate seats, another for remapping the state’s congressional district boundaries. Currently, under Democratic-drawn maps, Democrats hold majorities over Republicans of 72-45 in the Illinois House, 41-18 in the Illinois Senate and 13-5 in the U.S. House delegation.
Redistricting is traditionally the most political procedure conducted by Illinois lawmakers, the maps’ boundaries a determinant for which political party will control the General Assembly for the next decade as well as partisan control of the state’s congressional delegation in Washington.
The process is complicated, legally technical and often messy. Federal and state laws, and judicial rulings require provisions for racial and ethnic representation, keeping communities of shared interest intact and for districts to be compact, contiguous and as equal in population as possible.
Complying with those requirements in a diverse state, along with partisan political factors, is what prevents districts from simply resembling squares and instead result in odd jagged jigsaw-puzzle-shaped boundaries.
Drawing boundaries based solely on favoring a political party is known as gerrymandering. But legal requirements to design districts to guarantee a chance for representation by racial and ethnic groups is a form of legal gerrymandering that has been upheld by the courts.
What’s at stake for politicians and lawmakers?
What’s at stake for politicians in Illinois is the opportunity to shape their own districts, ideally looking for the most politically favorable boundaries that avoid the prospect of a strong challenge from the opposing party.
At the same time, redistricting presents the controlling party with the opportunity to diminish representation from the opposing party by reducing areas favorable to them or forcing them to run against each other for the same district.
What’s at stake for voters?
At stake is who will represent voters in Springfield and in Washington. The process has raised questions of fairness and whether it ends up with politicians picking their voters rather than voters picking their representatives.
In 2014 and 2016, signature-gathering efforts were made to change the state constitution to create an appointed commission to redistrict the legislature, taking the process out of the hands of lawmakers and removing much of the political influence in drawing map lines.
But the legal requirements for putting citizen-initiative proposals on the ballot for voters to ratify a proposed state constitutional amendment are extremely narrow. A Cook County judge tossed the 2014 effort, and the Illinois Supreme Court’s Democratic majority voted 4-3 to reject the 2016 effort. In both cases the courts found the proposals went beyond the “structural and procedural” changes allowed for citizen-driven proposals to amend the state constitution.
Here’s how the state legislative redistricting process works.
The state constitution prescribes the process for redistricting General Assembly districts but not congressional representation. For the state legislative remap, lawmakers have until June 30 to approve a map that is put into law. If they fail to meet that deadline, an eight-member commission is formed, made up of two members selected by each of the four partisan leaders of the Illinois House and Senate, to come up with a new map by Aug. 10. If that fails, a ninth partisan tiebreaking member of the commission is chosen by Sept. 5. A new map must be submitted by Oct. 5.
The drafters of the 1970 state constitution thought the tiebreaker provision would never be used by leaving the high stakes of partisan control to chance and force the eight-member commission to come up with an agreed-upon map. Instead, the eight-member panel reached agreement only in 1971. The tiebreaker was implemented in 1981, 1991 and 2001. Democrats won the draw in 1981 and 2001, Republicans in 1991.
Because Democrats controlled the General Assembly and governor’s office in 2011, a map was approved and signed into law by the June 30 deadline. Democrats control the legislature and governor’s office, meaning Republicans this time around will have little input into the legislative mapmaking process.
Here’s how the congressional redistricting process works:
The basic process for congressional redistricting is different from legislative redistricting because the number of U.S. House districts in Illinois depends on population changes around the nation. Illinois now has 18 U.S. House seats, but is expected to lose one and perhaps two seats due to population losses in Illinois coupled with gains elsewhere, mainly in southern states, over the last decade.
The congressional mapmaking process is not prescribed by the state constitution, but state lawmakers have the power to draw the maps so under federal law. Lawmakers failed to come up with congressional maps in 1971, 1981 and 1991, leaving the task to a panel of three federal judges selected from nominees made by Democrats and Republicans as well as other interests.
In 2001, the legislature left the process to the state’s congressional delegation to draw a compromise map, which state lawmakers then approved. In 2011, with Democrats in control of the legislature and governor’s office, as is the case now, a congressional map was approved.
The Illinois House and Senate have scheduled several hearings around the state to take public input into the mapmaking process. But regardless of the outcome, both the legislative and congressional maps are all but certain to face court challenges.
Key dates in the mapmaking process:
April 1 — The U.S. census traditionally issues block-by-block population data used for drawing maps. That information won’t be available this year until at least Sept. 30.
April 1 — First meeting of Illinois House Redistricting Committee.
April 30 — The U.S. census is scheduled to release to each state its “apportionment” figure — the total state population used to apportion out the 435 House seats.
May 31 — Scheduled end of the Illinois General Assembly session.
June 30 — Lawmakers must have a legislative redistricting map approved or force creation of an eight-member bipartisan panel.
July 10 — Deadline to select an eight-member bipartisan panel to redraw the legislative map if the legislature fails to do so.
Aug. 10 — At least five members of the eight-member bipartisan panel must approve of a new legislative map.
Aug. 15-30: Census Bureau says it will be able to release granular block population data to the states, though in an outmoded data format that will require extra steps by the states to make them usable for redistricting.
Aug. 31 — First day that candidates for the March 2022 primary can circulate candidacy petitions, unless General Assembly changes date.
Sept. 1 — Deadline for the Illinois Supreme Court to submit names of two people who are not of the same political party to act as the tiebreaker for the eight-member bipartisan panel.
Sept. 5 — Deadline for the secretary of state to hold a drawing in which the tiebreaking ninth legislative mapmaking panel member is chosen.
Sept. 30 — U.S. census expected to release granular block date files traditionally used for federal and state redistricting.
Oct. 5 — Nine-member redistricting commission must present final map of new legislative districts.
