Southern Illinois News

Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) laments the lack of transparency and rushing of the redistricting process.

During the joint Illinois Senate and House Redistricting Committee hearing in East St. Louis, he voiced his opposition to the use of the American Community Survey (ACS) Data and called for an extension of the process to allow for a vigorous and positive engagement from the public.

"Extending the time period would allow us to use the actual census data, not the ACS data that is just a small sampling of the population,” Plummer said. “Experts from around the country acknowledge that the ACS data is not as near as accurate as the census data. The use of this data will disenfranchise voters and communities, especially several communities of color that have changed dramatically over the past 10 years in certain parts of the state of Illinois. This would be like basing our election results on inaccurate poll numbers rather than truly counting the votes."

Plummer has also articulated that for the past hearings, witnesses have requested that there should be further participation from the community for the redrawing of legislative maps.

“While participation has been limited from hearing from witnesses from across the state, there must be more transparency in this process,” he said. “These witnesses have requested more robust public engagement which includes slowing the process down. Despite what my colleagues might claim, we don't have to pass a map by June. The real constitutional deadline is clear, and it's Oct. 5.”

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods), House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), Senate Republican Caucus Chair Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), and House Assistant Minority Leader Tim Butler (R-Springfield) have introduced the People’s Independent Maps Act to allow the state legislative redistricting maps to be crafted by an independent commission.

According to a news release on Plummer's website, “The People’s Independent Maps Act: Gives the Supreme Court the power to appoint 16 independent, citizen commissioners to the Independent Redistricting Commission within 30 days of becoming law; The makeup of the Commission would be required to reflect the ethnic, gender and racial demographics of the state; Party affiliation would be evenly split, in addition to members without party affiliation."

 Also, legislators, state employees and lobbyists would be  prohibited from serving on the Commission.

The People's Independent Maps Act uses identical language from an amendment proposed by Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Highwood) in 2019 which was supported by her fellow Democrats.

Democratic legislators meanwhile, want to pass a new map by June 30 by lifting data from the ACS, a smaller data pool when compared to the Census Bureau.

Plummer also mentioned that establishing an independent redistricting commission “has long been supported by Gov. Pritzker.”