Kane County Reporter

Critics are raising questions regarding Democratic-led efforts to revise Illinois legislative district maps.

In May, the Democratic-led state Senate passed new legislative maps which Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed, according to a report from The Center Square as syndicated on Yahoo! News. Critics argued that the proposed maps were heavily partisan in favor of Democratic interests. State GOP lawmakers filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the maps were not valid since Democrats relied on estimates and not population data from the U.S. Census Bureau as is typical during the mapmaking process.

In late August, state Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) asked Rep. Theresa Mah, a Democrat from Chicago, if the maps were being revised because they were invalid, and what was the point of an upcoming hearing on the new maps? Mah responded that the previously proposed maps weren't invalid, but that adjustments were being made based on public input and data from the U.S. Census Bureau which was recently released.

"If there was no issue with the map viability ... why the revision? Well because what the Democrats in Illinois won't tell you is Madigan is gone, but his playbook was left behind," Keicher wrote in a Sept. 14 Facebook post.

This isn’t the first time that Keicher has spoken out against the proposed maps. 

In a Sept. 2 Facebook post, he wrote "Again, Illinois Democrats force through a shady map via a sham process and breaching their oath to support a Fair Maps process. I’m pretty sure the Governor will again break his promise and sign it despite the minority interest groups urging him not to."

In early September, Keicher had urged Pritzker to keep a promise he made during his election of not signing off on any "unfair maps" and to veto the bill, according to the Kane County Reporter.

"Politicians should not be drawing maps. Period," Keicher said in a statement. "I join those urging Governor Pritzker to stand by his campaign promise and veto this bill.”

State Republicans are urging for amendments and public review to change the redistricting process and have filed legislation to create an independent commission to handle the mapmaking process, WSIL News reported last March.

The new maps will go into effect in 2023 and will be in place for ten years.