McHenry Times

Steve Reick, Republican candidate for state representative in House District 63, responded with dissatisfaction when a Cook County Circuit Court judge ruled to exclude the Independent Map Amendment initiative from the November ballot.

“I’m very disappointed by the court’s decision,” Reick said. “I have been advocating for fair maps since 2014, and I’m optimistic that the Illinois Supreme Court will overturn the decision and allow the initiative to receive a vote on Nov. 8.” 

Cook County Circuit Judge Diane Larsen ruled against the Independent Map Amendment, upholding opponents' contention that the amendment is unconstitutional according to the guidelines in the Illinois Constitution, but initiative supporters are taking their fight to the state Supreme Court.

The previous attempt to wrest control of the redistricting process from the Illinois legislature, the 2014 Illinois Independent Redistricting Amendment, was successfully challenged by Chicago lawyer Mike Kasper, who also won in court with this latest effort. The 2014 amendment effort also faced difficulties with the Illinois State Board of Elections, which determined that less than half of the 532,000 signatures submitted were valid after sampling 5 percent of the signatures. Supporters of the 2016 Independent Map Amendment submitted more than 550,000 signatures on May 6. 

The amendment would put an 11-member commission in charge of redrawing election district lines. The commission would consist of seven registered voters and four members selected by Illinois General Assembly leaders. The People's Map Ballot Initiative Committee campaigned against the amendment, claiming that it was meant to help Republicans win seats in the legislature and reduce the representation of minorities. The opposition was led by Chicago Housing Authority Chairman John Hooker.

While the group filed with the Illinois Board of Elections as a political group, it allegedly failed to file campaign disclosures reporting donations. Kasper, who is also the Democratic Party of Illinois' general counsel, filed the legal challenge in Cook County on May 11. The Illinois Republican Party reacted strongly to the lawsuit after the state elections board certified the signatures on June 13.

"Now that the State Board of Elections has approved the Independent Map Amendment, the only thing standing in the way of letting the people vote for fair legislative maps is (Illinois House Speaker) Mike Madigan," Illinois Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe said. "Many Democrats claim to support redistricting reform, but all have remained silent on Mike Madigan’s lawsuit to get the Independent Map Amendment thrown off the ballot. Democrats need to listen to the will of the people and denounce Madigan’s lawsuit and refuse financial support from Madigan’s Democratic Party until this shameful lawsuit is dropped. Otherwise, this is a clear signal that Democrats would prefer maintaining power to doing what is right for the people of Illinois.”

While disappointed by the court ruling, Independent Map Amendment Chairman Dennis FitzSimons told supporters that the battle is not over. In California, petitions failed four times before voters passed their own redistricting amendment in 2008.

"We expected from the beginning of this effort that the issue would ultimately be decided by the Illinois Supreme Court,” FitzSimons said. 

The district court declared the ballot initiative unconstitutional on two grounds: that the citizen-led constitutional amendment proposal is not limited to procedural and structural changes to the Illinois General Assembly, or to a single topic of the state constitution.

“The people of Illinois who went out and did the work to get this initiative on the ballot and the voters who have had their voice taken away by gerrymandering deserve an independent map,” Reick said. “They deserve fair representation.”