The Democrat-led Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday said Republicans waited too long to contest the 2021 redrawing of legislative districts that has maintained Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate.
Republicans had argued the Democratic mapping effort was unconstitutional political gerrymandering that limited voters’ choices. But the court’s five-member Democratic majority said the GOP’s “timing in filing the instant motion shows a lack of due diligence.”
“Plaintiffs could have brought their argument years ago,” the majority wrote in an unsigned decision. “Their claim that waiting multiple election cycles is necessary to reveal the effects of redistricting is unpersuasive.”
…At issue was a Jan. 28 Republican challenge to the redrawing of legislative districts by Democrats who control the General Assembly that occurred following the 2020 federal census.
Led by House Republican leader Tony McCombie of Savanna, the GOP contended the political gerrymandering of maps violated a state constitutional requirement that districts be “compact” and that elections be “free and equal.” In making the argument, the GOP said the boundaries limited voter choice. Read the rest of the story by Rick Pearson in the Chicago Tribune.