The Illinois House and Senate Approved New State Legislative Boundaries during a Special Session, on Aug. 31st.
On April 26th, 2021, The U.S. Census Bureau delivered Apportionment Counts. Illinois was Apportioned 17 Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This represented a Net Loss of One Seat as compared to Apportionment after the 2010 Census.
Illinois' 17 U.S. Representatives and 177 State Legislators are All Elected from Political Divisions called Districts.
Federal Law stipulates that Districts must have nearly Equal Populations and must Not Discriminate on the basis of Race or Ethnicity.
The Maps, which passed 73-43 in the State House, and 40-17 in the State Senate, Revised Legislative Redistricting Plans, Enacted in June, before the U.S. Census Bureau released Block-Level Data from the 2020 Census, on Aug. 12th.
Illinois had been the Second State to Pass new Legislative Maps.
Following the 2010 Census, Gov. Pat Quinn (D), Signed Redistricting Legislation, on June 3rd, 2011.
Two Lawsuits Challenging the 2021 Maps were Consolidated in a Federal District Court on July 14th.
The Plaintiffs, the Minority Leaders of the Illinois House and Senate, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued that the Redistricting Plans did Not Ensure that the Districts had substantially Equal Populations because they used Data from the American Community Survey (ACS) instead of the 2020 Census Data.
The Trial is set to begin on Sept. 27th.
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