Video: Will Voters Get To Sound Off On Redistricting Reform?

More than 560,000 Illinoisans signed a petition for a constitutional amendment to remove politicians from the process of drawing their own district maps.

But the Illinois Constitution says citizens only can amend the constitution as it pertains to the structure and procedure of the Illinois General Assembly. Anything outside of that narrow definition must be initiated by lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly.

Whether the proposed amendment, organized by the Independent Map Amendment, meets the "structural and procedural" requirement is among the issues the Illinois Supreme Court will weigh when it takes on a lawsuit seeking to prevent the map amendment from appearing on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Last week Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Larsen ruled that the Independent Map Amendment violates the constitution by exceeding the limits of a citizen-led amendment petition. Her ruling contradicted that of Judge Mary Mikva in a 2014 case involving a similar effort to change Illinois' legislative mapping process.

The Illinois Supreme Court twice -- in 1994 and in 2014 -- ruled that citizen effort to enact term limits on state elected officials violates the "structural and procedural" clause of the state constitution. But it never has ruled on a question on legislative redistricting.

After Larsen's decision, the court agreed to hear the Independent Map lawsuit immediately so it can render a decision by Aug. 26, when the Illinois State Board of Elections must certify the Nov. 8 ballot.

The infographic excerpted in the video above is here.

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