Illinois Republicans File Lawsuit Asking State Supreme Court to Toss Legislative Map
As reprinted from wttw.com.
Illinois Republicans have filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to throw out the legislative district map drawn by Democrats.
Republicans argue the map is an example of “extreme partisan gerrymandering,” which renders it unconstitutional under state law.
At a news conference last week announcing the lawsuit, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) said the current map “may be one of the most corrupt in American history.”
The map was initially challenged in federal court, but the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that partisan gerrymandering cases like this one should be decided by the states.
“What this is about is about free and equal elections and whether the maps were drawn properly under the Illinois Constitution,” Assistant Minority Leader Dan Ugaste (R-St. Charles) said in an interview on “Chicago Tonight.”
But Democratic lawmakers in Springfield said the lawsuit is just a distraction from President Donald Trump’s actions in Washington, D.C.
“House Republicans can’t justify their party leader’s unlawful attempts to slash services working families need to access healthcare, afford rent, and put food on the table, so they are choosing to distract people by re-litigating a matter that courts decided years ago,” the House Democratic Caucus said in a statement.
Ugaste denied the lawsuit was meant as a distraction, saying “it has nothing to do with that at all.”
He said the current map violates the Illinois Constitution in two ways: first, because districts are supposed to be “contiguous of approximately equal population and also compact” under Section 4 of the constitution. And secondly because Section 3 of the constitution provides for “free and equal” elections.
Ugaste said that in the 2022 elections, Illinois House Republicans actually received 70,000 more votes than Democrats.
“If you were to (create a map) based on those straight numbers alone, we would have had 60 seats and they would have had 58,” said Ugaste. “Yet with the way the maps were drawn, the way it worked out is they have 78 House seats, and we have 40, and it just appeared that something was clearly wrong with that.”
Ugaste said that in 2024, Illinois House Democrats did receive more votes than Republicans but not enough to justify the size of their super majority.
“Democrat House candidates received approximately 55% or slightly less of the votes, and yet they still have a 2-1 super majority,” said Ugaste. “The numbers just don’t ever equate.”
While there is no guarantee that the Illinois Supreme Court, which is currently dominated by Democrats, will agree to hear the case, Ugaste said he’s optimistic.
“It’s clear that based on the evidence we are bringing forward as well as what’s contained in our complaint that if you look at it, voters are being disenfranchised and that’s the main thing here,” said Ugaste. “The free and equal election clause is being violated, as well each voter’s voice does not count the same as the other, which is required by our constitution. And because of that, because we need to protect the voters of Illinois.”
Republicans are asking that the court overturn the current map and appoint a special master “to draw a fair map that complies with our constitution,” said Ugaste.
For more information about this issue visit: http://redoremap.com/
