A lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court says the Independent Map Amendment redistricting reform plan is unconstitutional and should not be allowed on the November election ballot.
The suit also seeks an immediate halt to the Illinois State Board of Elections' verifying of petition signatures filed last week by Independent Map Amendment, citing the "waste of public funds" involved in the signature review.
The plaintiffs, members of the group People's Map, have opposed the citizen-led redistricting effort as a threat to minority representation in Springfield, though that aspect is not specified in the lawsuit. Independent Map Amendment has said its system will enhance protections for minority representation.
The suit comes six days after Independent Map Amendment filed 65,000 pages of petitions bearing more than 570,000 signatures from people who want to create an independent commission to re-draw state legislative district boundaries every 10 years following the U.S. Census. Proponents of redistricting reform say politicians too often have used their map-drawing power to enhance their own power and punish political rivals.
As the petitions were being filed on May 6, Independent Map Amendment CEO Dennis FitzSimons predicted there would be a lawsuit from "entrenched interests" who want to preserve the current system, in which receiving the power to draw the new legislative district map is viewed as the ultimate political prize.
FitzSimons reiterated that belief in a statement after the lawsuit was filed Thursday:
"Political insiders want to deny voters the chance to reform Illinois government. Independent polls show close to two-thirds of Illinois voters are ready to vote 'yes' on an independent, transparent and impartial process for drawing state legislative maps. Springfield insiders aren't willing to risk those odds and would rather cynically preempt at the courthouse what they cannot win at the ballot box.
"Plain and simple, this lawsuit is a struggle for power. It is Illinois politicians struggling to retain the power to manipulate elections versus citizens demanding reform. We knew this lawsuit would be the response to our submission of 570,000 petition signatures from Illinois voters, and we are ready to aggressively defend the constitutionality and fairness of the Independent Map Amendment."
Two years ago a lawsuit against a similar citizen ballot initiative called Yes for Independent Maps found that a provision of that effort -- a requirement that no member of a remap commission be elected to the Legislature or various other offices for 10 years after serving -- violated the constitution's rules for what citizen initiatives can change in the state constitution. (That decision is here with the violation explained on page 10.)
The 2014 effort failed on two fronts. First came the ruling from Judge Mary Mikva that found the 10-year service provision unconstitutional. Then the state board of elections ruled that Yes for Independent Maps had not gathered enough verifiable voter signatures to be certified for placement on the ballot. Having been ruled ineligible for the ballot, the group did not appeal Mikva's ruling.
This time, organizers took more care in gathering signatures and turned in nearly twice the required 290,000 on their petitions.
The new lawsuit asks the court to halt the board of elections' work on verifying signatures while bringing up old and new constitutional challenges.
Some, like whether redistricting is even allowable for change by citizen initiative, were rejected by Mikva in 2014. But the new suit also challenges aspects of having a redistricting commission that is overseen by the Illinois Supreme Court. This opens entirely new questions that have no precedent.
Regardless of the ruling in Cook County, appeals that carry the suit to the Illinois Supreme Court are all but certain.
The lead lawyer in the 2014 suit, Michael Kasper, also is part of the team in the new filing. Though Kasper is a longtime associate of House Speaker Michael Madigan and regarded as being among the top election law attorneys in the state, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Madigan is not involved.
"People want to make this look like a Madigan operation. I think there's some confusion there," Brown said.
Last week, Madigan voted for a redistricting proposal sponsored by Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, that Franks said was a more powerful reform because lawmakers can make greater changes to the constitution than can citizen-led efforts. But that bill never was called for a vote in the Senate. Friday was the deadline for constitutional amendments to be approved for the Nov. 8 ballot.
"He supported Franks' bill because it was a clear plan that would meet the Voting Rights Act requirements," Brown said.
People's Map found a strong ally in Madigan, who handed out its press release opposing the Independent Map effort in February, a week after President Barack Obama had addressed the need for redistricting reform in a speech before the Illinois General Assembly:
The new lawsuit is here: Hooker et al v ISBE et all petition
The ruling that disallowed the 2014 redistricting plan is here: Redistricting opinion 2014
