Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois, said in an interview that there was a general feeling of frustration among many advocacy groups that took part in the legislative redistricting process that has carried over into congressional redistricting.

"They used a different data set, despite the fact that... we were telling them that districts that were drawn with that data would be malapportioned," Young said.

Common Cause Illinois, a political reform advocacy group, issued a statement Monday afternoon saying it would boycott the hearing out of protest for the way in which lawmakers were conducting the redistricting process.

“Since the beginning, we’ve pleaded with lawmakers to keep the redistricting process open, transparent and accessible to no avail,” Young said in a statement. “At each opportunity in this redistricting process, it’s as if lawmakers went out of their way to ensure the creation of these maps had as little public input as possible. Rejecting an independent bipartisan redistricting commission, politicians chose to draw maps themselves. They did so behind closed doors, with a series of hearings attempting to add a veneer of public access.”

Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois, said the maps the Legislature will vote on Tuesday “will not be crafted of public input, but of pure politics.”