March 25, 2011

Five hearings to solicit public input on the state’s redistricting process were announced this week. Notably absent from the schedule are hearings in any suburban collar county communities, as well as any community south of Springfield.

The first hearing will be held in Chicago on March 28, with subsequent hearings scheduled throughout April in Springfield, Kankakee, Peoria and Cicero. The public is invited to attend the hearings, provide testimony and submit their own legislative maps for review.

The Redistricting Committee Chairman said additional public hearings may be announced in the future, but critics questioned how hearings could be scheduled without consideration of Illinois' fast growing suburban counties and the entire southern half of the state.

Senate Republicans noted that while it is good that  the public will be allowed to participate in the redistricting process in some capacity, lawmakers are still in charge of drawing the maps, making it unlikely legislative districts will be drawn fairly and impartially.

Mapmakers study voting patterns based on such variables as age, ethnicity, income, geography and education. Using sophisticated computer programs, they can draw maps that will virtually guarantee candidates of one political party will consistently be chosen over candidates from an opposing party.

In 2010, public interest groups pushed hard for reform of the state’s redistricting process, which would take the map drawing powers out of lawmakers’ hands and place it in the hands of an independent commission. Changes to the redistricting system would have encouraged diversity and promoted competition. However, despite strong support from reform groups, editorial boards and the public, minimal changes were made to Illinois' redistricting system.

As long as partisan lawmakers draw the maps, the public will see bizarre districts lines and skewed election results.