Prairie State Wire

Even a completely independent and transparent redistricting process in Illinois would not essentially flip power from entrenched Democrats to the always-minority Republicans, the head of a Chicago-based organization that advocates politician-free remapping said during a recent interview.

Illinoisans would still continue to vote as they always have, Coalition for Honest And New Government Ethics (CHANGE) Illinois Executive Director Madeleine Doubek said during an interview with The Illinoize posted to YouTube last week.

"No, you can't change people's eye color or skin color, right?" Doubek told interviewer Patrick Pfingsten. "People have the views that they have and they're going to keep voting the way they do. You can do a lot by moving lines around on a map but you can't really move people around. I wouldn't expect a dramatic shift one way or the other."

What Doubek would expect is a more level, fair playing field in Illinois politics.

"That everyone's voices are being heard and recognized and counted," she said.

Doubek, as head of CHANGE Illinois, is an outspoken and a frequent redistricting hearing attendee. During a virtual League of Women Voters event earlier this month, Doubek blasted gerrymandering, saying it "literally steals our voices and our choices."

This year is critical, as it seems to be every decade, because U.S. Census data will be released and redistricting is traditionally based on that data. Under Illinois' Constitution, state lawmakers must pass a new legislative map by June 30. If that doesn't happen, an eight-person bipartisan panel is supposed to be created. Should that group be locked in a tie, Illinois' Secretary of State would randomly choose a ninth member to break the tie.

The still-ongoing COVID pandemic has complicated the process by delaying the U.S. Census data.

Meanwhile, one piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1325, the People's Independent Maps Act, would remove politicians from making decisions about redistricting and place that power in the hands of Illinoisans. SB 1325 has until an Friday, April 30, deadline to come up for a third reading.

The topic is complex but people really should care, Doubek told Pfingsten.

"People should care because it really is forming the foundation of our democracy," she said. "It really comes down to power and who gets it, who keeps it and their ability to keep it. It also is, frankly, about whether you're going to actually have your voice heard and counted every time you go to the ballot box."

Gerrymandering in Illinois historically has been a thing regardless of party, including during the 1990s when Republicans had control of the process, Doubek said.

"What tends to happen is incumbents are protected and, as a result, we have a situation in Illinois where we don't have competitive elections," she said. "This gerrymandering contributes to that."

She acknowleged that not all districts in Illinois can be drawn to be competitive but said the process can be changed to allow it to be more so.

"More equitable and much less political," she said. "If we do that, that's going to restore people's faith and trust in the process."

CHANGE Illinois is pushing for removing politicians from the redistricting process but that's far easier said than done.

"It's human nature that they would want to protect themselves and their jobs," Doubek said. "But that's a conflict of interest. Ethically, we would think it is better to have an independent commission."