Plaintiffs: New legislative maps dilute Latino vote
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[October 08, 2021]
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Plaintiffs in two lawsuits
challenging the state’s legislative redistricting plan have filed new
complaints in federal court charging that the district maps that
lawmakers approved in August dilute Latino voting power and thus violate
the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational fund, or MALDEF, and
legislative Republican leaders both argue that while the Latino
population in Illinois experienced strong growth over the last 10 years,
the new maps actually reduce the number of Latino “opportunity”
districts – those in which Latinos make up 50 percent or more of the
voting-age population.
“The General Assembly did not merely fail to create more Latino
opportunity districts, it created fewer of them,” MALDEF argued in its
latest filing.
Both amended complaints were filed in federal court for the Northern
District of Illinois on Friday, Oct. 1, one week after Gov. JB Pritzker
signed the newest maps into law.
Both lawsuits name House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and
Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, as defendants, along with the
Illinois State Board of Elections and its individual members, as
defendants. Both seek to have the redistricting plan invalidated and new
maps drawn.
The two sets of plaintiffs originally filed lawsuits shortly after
lawmakers passed the first redistricting plan for the Illinois House and
Senate during the regular spring session. Those maps were based on
population estimates because the Census Bureau had not yet released
official census data.
But after the official 2020 census numbers were released in mid-August,
the House and Senate came back into session to adopt a second set of
maps using the official census numbers.
In both cases, plaintiffs are now asking a three-judge federal panel to
declare the maps unconstitutional under the one-person-one-vote doctrine
as well as illegal under the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits
states from using any “standard, practice or procedure” that results in
the denial of the right of any citizen to vote on the basis of race or
membership in a recognized language minority group.
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In their amended complaints, both sets of plaintiffs
argue that while Illinois lost population overall between 2010 and
2020, the Latino population grew by more than more than 300,000, to
just over 2.3 million, while the Latino voting-age population –
people 18 years of age and older – grew to just over 1 million. That
meant their overall share of the state’s population grew to 18.2
percent, up from 15.8 percent, while their share of the voting-age
population grew to 11.2 percent, up from 8 percent.
During the spring session, Democratic lawmakers who
control the General Assembly moved quickly to adopt new maps,
despite not having official census data, in order to meet a June 30
deadline in the Illinois Constitution for the legislature to draw
maps. After that, the process is handed to a bipartisan legislative
commission where Republicans would have had a 50-50 chance of
controlling the process.
In their suit, Republicans argue that because the first set of maps
was unconstitutional, Democrats actually failed to meet the June 30
deadline and, therefore, the process should still be handed over to
such a commission. But judges on the federal panel have indicated
that question will probably have to be decided by the Illinois
Supreme Court, not a federal district court.
Under federal court rules, the defendants have 21 days, or until
Oct. 21, to respond. Both lawsuits are tentatively slated for trial
before the same three-judge panel in late November or early
December.
The latest amended complaints comes just as lawmakers are about to
start the process of drawing new congressional district maps. Both
the House and Senate redistricting committees have scheduled a
series of public hearings over the next two weeks leading up to the
fall veto session, which begins Oct. 19.
The first House hearing is scheduled for noon Thursday at the
Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago. The first Senate hearing is
scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Oakton Community College in Des
Plaines.
Because Illinois lost population overall in the 2020 census, it will
lose one of its 18 congressional districts.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
news service covering state government and distributed to more than
400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois
Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |