User:Visviva/Redistricting in Illinois

Redistricting in Illinois is the process by which electoral districts are redrawn in the state of Illinois. Redistricting typically occurs once every ten years, following a United States census, although this has not always been the case in Illinois. The redistricting process has historically been dominated by struggles along regional, racial and party lines, as well as incumbent preservation.[1] All Illinois Constitutions have given the Illinois General Assembly the right to redistrict, but several times since 1970 redistricting has been done by a redistricting commission.

Redistricting determines the electoral boundaries for the state's US House seats, the Illinois House and Illinois Senate, and the Cook County Board of Review. The state's judicial districts have also been redistricted from time to time, for example in 1963 and 2021.[citation needed]

Redistricting before 1870

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1870 redistricting cycle

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In 1870, the state adopted a new constitution that fixed the number of legislative districts at 51. Each district elected one senator and three representatives. Thus from 1872 to 1955, the Senate had 51 members and the House had 153.

1880 redistricting cycle

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1890 redistricting cycle

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1900 redistricting cycle

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The 1901 redistricting would be the last for more than 50 years.

1950 redistricting cycle

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The Legislative Apportionment Amendment of 1954 amended the 1870 Constitution to require the legislature to draw 58 Senate districts and 59 House districts.


1960 redistricting cycle

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Under the 1954 Legislative Apportionment Amendment, if the legislature failed to agree on a redistricting plan, the decision would fall to a ten-member redistricting commission containing five members from each party, selected by the governor from lists presented by each party. If the commission also failed to reach an agreement, all 177 House seats would be elected at large. This was intended to ensure that the parties would work together rather than allowing such an inconvenient result. However, following the 1960 census neither the General Assembly nor the redistricting commission could reach an agreement; thus, all House seats were elected at large in the 1964 election, known as the "bedsheet ballot" election due to the length of the ballot that voters were required to fill out.


1970 redistricting cycle

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1980 redistricting cycle

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1990 redistricting cycle

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2000 redistricting cycle

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2010 redistricting cycle

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The 2011 maps defined the state Senate and House districts for the XX, YY, ZZ General Assemblies.

2020 redistricting cycle

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The 2021 maps defined the state Senate and House districts for the 103rd through 108th General Assemblies.

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Works cited

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References

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  1. ^ Green 1987.
  2. ^ "Democrats add one more House seat in Illinois from redistricting, playing catch up with GOP - CBS News". Retrieved 2022-06-09. Illinois (projected Democrat net gain: 1 seat) Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed a congressional map that could result in a loss of two Republican seats and a net gain of one Democratic seat, despite the fact that the state lost a congressional seat through reapportionment. The map pits incumbent Republicans against each other in southern Illinois, as well as Democrats Sean Casten and freshman Marie Newman in the new 6th District. Republican Adam Kinzinger was drawn into the same district as Republican Darin LaHood, though he announced his retirement shortly after a draft map was released in late October. The map also has a new designated majority Hispanic district in northern Chicago and its suburbs. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 47 (help)
  3. ^ "Illinois legislative maps approved by federal court panel". Retrieved 2022-06-09. "In the end, we find that the boundaries for Illinois House and Senate districts set out in SB 927 neither violate neither the Voting Rights Act nor the Constitution," the panel wrote. "The record shows ample evidence of crossover voting to defeat any claim of racially polarized voting sufficient to deny Latino and Black voters of the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice in the challenged districts." Last year's redistricting process was complicated and slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and delayed release of data from the 2020 U.S. Census. Lawmakers initially passed one set of maps during their regular spring session in May, even though the census data had not yet been released, in order to meet the Illinois Constitution's June 30 deadline for lawmakers to pass a plan before handing over the process to a bipartisan commission. Republican leaders in the General Assembly, as well as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, quickly filed suit, arguing the maps violated the one-person, one-vote principle because the districts were not close to being equal in population. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 415 (help)

Category:Illinois General Assembly Category:Redistricting in the United States