Senate Democrat leaders ignored public and media calls for redistricting reform by strong-arming legislation that keeps the process of drawing legislative boundaries in the hands of lawmakers, allowing them to protect incumbents and their political careers, according to Senator Bill Brady.

Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment (SJRCA) 121 was passed by a bipartisan 36-22 vote (one member not voting). It states that if initial attempts to draw a legislative map fail, the Senate and the House of Representatives could develop their own district maps without having to work with the Governor.

“Each 10 years, after the census, new federal Congressional and state legislative maps are drawn – a system called redistricting. Illinois’ current system allows one party to drawing of political boundaries in order to pre-determine election results,” Senator Brady said. “Also known as political gerrymandering, the system allows politicians to steal the election before the voters even go to the polls. This is one of the most politically-subversive processes in state government – one that shapes the direction of our state government and public policy for decades.”

The 44th District Senator introduced legislation in 2009 that would call for an autonomous, non-political entity to draw the district boundaries using computer technology to remove politics from the process. Senate Joint Resolution-Constitutional Amendment 78 would require the State Board of Elections to produce a redistricting plan using a computer program. Any map-drawing program should apply the following criteria:

• Create substantial equality of population;

• Comply with applicable federal laws to ensure that the interests of racial minorities are protected

• Require contiguity and compactness of districts; and

• Minimize the number of districts that cross county or municipal boundaries.

Senator Brady said SJRCA 78 was never allowed a public hearing by Democrat legislative leaders, but there is a current alternative sponsored by Senate and House Republicans that would put the mapmaking process in the hands of an independent commission.

SJRCA 104 mirrors the Fair Map Amendment favored by the Illinois League of Women Voters and other reform advocates. It would allow for public input through hearings and the timely display of proposed legislative maps. However, SJRCA 104 was voted down by a Senate Committee April 12.

Last year, the Senate held public hearings across the state to begin discussions about the redistricting process. Scholars at several Illinois universities and think tanks have advocated for redistricting to be handled more transparently and through a nonpartisan third party.

For more information on the redistricting process, please visit www.gerrymandering.senategop.net.