Sangamon Sun

David Griesing, the president of the Better Government Association (BGA) wants Illinois’ government leaders to commit to fair electoral maps and establish an independent public commission to draw maps since the data from the U.S. Census is delayed.

“The state's three key public officials in the mapmaking process—new House Speaker Chris Welch, Senate President Don Harmon and Gov. J.B. Pritzker—all say they oppose gerrymandered maps,” Griesing wrote. “What they do over the next several months will tell us if they really mean it.”

Grieving says as a “trifecta state” which means one party controls the House, Senate and the governor’s office, it is clear how badly the gerrymandered maps are in the state. He pointed out that 95 percent of incumbents who were seeking reelection since 2011 have returned to office.

“It does not need to be this way,” Griesing wrote. “When my organization, the Better Government Association, commissioned a pair of fair maps, we pointed the way toward what can happen if maps are not drawn by partisans. Placed side by side with the current ones, the BGA maps showed that fair-mapping practices produced more compact, geographically sensible boundaries. The districts were more competitive, and they safeguarded representation for minorities and other communities of interest.”

Griesing wrote that incumbency was no longer protected and that voters chose their representatives, not the other way around.

Griesing wrote that the delays in census data make it even more important for Welch, Harmon and Pritzker to back their fair-mapping claims.

“If they won't go as far as they should, they could at least make progress by committing to meaningful public hearings, with follow-up hearings after the maps are drawn, so the public can hold the mapmakers responsible for their work,” Griesing wrote.

Griesing wrote that leaders should also commit that districts need to be redrawn regardless of where incumbents live.