West Central Reporter

State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) is urging voters to hold Gov. J.B. Pritzker to his word when it comes to the issue of map redistricting.

“Tell Gov. Pritzker to keep his promise,” Tracy recently posted on Facebook in calling attention to the pledge he made as a candidate to veto any maps drawn along partisan lines. She then listed a web site where voters can sign a petition and another to send the governor a message.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and we have the perfect example in the maps that passed Aug. 31 and the process in which they were created,” she added.

Tracy isn’t alone in protesting the new maps drawn by Democrats, which only came to be after their first attempt was met with lawsuits alleging violation of the Constitution’s one-person, one-vote principle.

“Again, Illinois Democrats force through a shady map via a sham process and breaching their oath to support a fair maps process,” state Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) posted on Facebook. “I’m pretty sure the governor will again break his promise and sign it despite the minority interest groups urging him not to.”

Among the groups calling on the governor to honor the pledge he made as a candidate to veto any maps drawn along partisan lines are Illinois CHANGE, the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, Latino Policy Forum, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Common Cause Illinois, Agudath Israel of Illinois, Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Nonprofit Utopia.

“Drawing district maps in locked back rooms yet again, Illinois lawmakers underscored their utter disregard for the will of the people and for the bedrock democratic principles of open government by and for the people,” CHANGE Illinois Executive Director Madeline Doubek said in a press release. “Gov. Pritzker said he wanted maps that reflect the state’s rich diversity. These maps fall far short of that request and should be rejected by him.”