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| | 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT SC0015 Introduced 5/22/2015, by Sen. Christine Radogno - Chapin Rose, Chris Nybo, Karen McConnaughay, Jason A. Barickman, et al. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Creates the Independent Redistricting Commission to adopt and file with the Secretary of State a redistricting plan for Legislative and Representative Districts. Provides for the selection of Commissioners and establishes the authority of a Special Commissioner to design a redistricting plan in the event that the Commission fails to properly adopt and file a redistricting plan. Effective beginning with redistricting in 2021 and applies to members elected in 2022 and thereafter.
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1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | | CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
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3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL |
4 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
5 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the |
6 | | electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general |
7 | | election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of |
8 | | this resolution a proposition to amend Section 3 of Article IV |
9 | | of the Illinois Constitution as follows:
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10 | | ARTICLE IV
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11 | | THE LEGISLATURE
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12 | | (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3)
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13 | | SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
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14 | | (a) The Independent Redistricting Commission comprising 11 |
15 | | Commissioners shall adopt and file with the Secretary of State |
16 | | a redistricting plan for Legislative Districts and |
17 | | Representative Districts by June 30 of the year following each |
18 | | Federal decennial census. Legislative Districts shall be |
19 | | contiguous and substantially equal in population. |
20 | | Representative Districts shall be contiguous and substantially |
21 | | equal in population. The redistricting plan shall comply with |
22 | | Federal law. Subject to the foregoing, the Commission shall |
23 | | apply the following criteria: (1) the redistricting plan shall |
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1 | | not dilute or diminish the ability of a racial or language |
2 | | minority community to elect the candidates of its choice, |
3 | | including when voting in concert with other persons; (2) the |
4 | | redistricting plan shall respect the geographic integrity of |
5 | | units of local government; and (3) the redistricting plan shall |
6 | | respect the geographic integrity of communities sharing common |
7 | | social and economic interests, which do not include |
8 | | relationships with political parties or candidates for office. |
9 | | The redistricting plan shall not either intentionally or unduly |
10 | | discriminate against or intentionally or unduly favor any |
11 | | political party, political group, or particular person. In |
12 | | designing the redistricting plan, the Commission shall |
13 | | consider party registration and voting history data only to |
14 | | assess compliance with the requirements in this subsection (a). |
15 | | (b) For the purpose of conducting the Commissioner |
16 | | selection process, an Applicant Review Panel comprising three |
17 | | Reviewers shall be chosen in the manner set forth in this |
18 | | subsection (b). Beginning not later than January 1 and ending |
19 | | not later than March 1 of the year in which the Federal |
20 | | decennial census occurs, the Auditor General shall request and |
21 | | accept applications to serve as a Reviewer. The Auditor General |
22 | | shall review all applications and select a pool of 30 potential |
23 | | Reviewers. The Auditor General should select applicants for the |
24 | | pool of potential Reviewers who would operate in an ethical and |
25 | | non-partisan manner by considering whether each applicant is a |
26 | | resident and registered voter of the State and has been for the |
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1 | | four years preceding his or her application, has demonstrated |
2 | | understanding of and adherence to standards of ethical conduct, |
3 | | and has been unaffiliated with any political party for the |
4 | | three years preceding appointment. By March 31 of the year in |
5 | | which the Federal decennial census occurs, the Auditor General |
6 | | shall publicly select by random draw the Panel of three |
7 | | Reviewers from the pool of potential Reviewers. |
8 | | (c) Beginning not later than January 1 and ending not later |
9 | | than March 1 of the year in which the Federal decennial census |
10 | | occurs, the Auditor General shall request and accept |
11 | | applications to serve as a Commissioner on the Independent |
12 | | Redistricting Commission. By May 31, the Panel shall select a |
13 | | pool of 100 potential Commissioners. The Panel should select |
14 | | applicants for the pool of potential Commissioners who would be |
15 | | diverse and unaffected by conflicts of interest by considering |
16 | | whether each applicant is a resident and registered voter of |
17 | | the State and has been for the four years preceding his or her |
18 | | application, as well as each applicant's prior political |
19 | | experience, relevant analytical skills, ability to contribute |
20 | | to a fair redistricting process, and ability to represent the |
21 | | demographic and geographic diversity of the State. The Panel |
22 | | shall act by affirmative vote of two Reviewers. All records of |
23 | | the Panel, including applications to serve on the Panel, shall |
24 | | be open for public inspection, except private information about |
25 | | applicants for which there is no compelling public interest in |
26 | | disclosure. |
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1 | | (d) Within 45 days after the Panel has selected the pool of |
2 | | 100 potential Commissioners, but not later than June 23 of the |
3 | | year in which the Federal decennial census occurs, the Speaker |
4 | | and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and the |
5 | | President and Minority Leader of the Senate each may remove up |
6 | | to five of those potential Commissioners. Thereafter, but not |
7 | | later than June 30, the Panel shall publicly select seven |
8 | | Commissioners by random draw from the remaining pool of |
9 | | potential Commissioners; of those seven Commissioners, |
10 | | including any replacements, (1) the seven Commissioners shall |
11 | | reside among the Judicial Districts in the same proportion as |
12 | | the number of Judges elected therefrom under Section 3 of |
13 | | Article VI of this Constitution, (2) two Commissioners shall be |
14 | | affiliated with the political party whose candidate for |
15 | | Governor received the most votes cast in the last general |
16 | | election for Governor, two Commissioners shall be affiliated |
17 | | with the political party whose candidate for Governor received |
18 | | the second-most votes cast in such election and the remaining |
19 | | three Commissioners shall not be affiliated with either such |
20 | | political party, and (3) no more than two Commissioners may be |
21 | | affiliated with the same political party. The Speaker and |
22 | | Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and the |
23 | | President and Minority Leader of the Senate each shall appoint |
24 | | one Commissioner from among the remaining applicants in the |
25 | | pool of potential Commissioners on the basis of the appointee's |
26 | | contribution to the demographic and geographic diversity of the |
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1 | | Commission. A vacancy on the Panel or Commission shall be |
2 | | filled within five days by a potential Reviewer or potential |
3 | | Commissioner from among the applicants remaining in the pool of |
4 | | potential Reviewers or potential Commissioners, respectively, |
5 | | in the manner in which the office was previously filled. |
6 | | (e) The Commission shall act in public meetings by |
7 | | affirmative vote of six Commissioners, except that approval of |
8 | | any redistricting plan shall require the affirmative vote of at |
9 | | least (1) seven Commissioners total, (2) two Commissioners from |
10 | | each political party whose candidate for Governor received the |
11 | | most and second-most votes cast in the last general election |
12 | | for Governor, and (3) two Commissioners not affiliated with |
13 | | either such political party. The Commission shall elect its |
14 | | chairperson and vice chairperson, who shall not be affiliated |
15 | | with the same political party. Six Commissioners shall |
16 | | constitute a quorum. All meetings of the Commission attended by |
17 | | a quorum, except for meetings qualified under attorney-client |
18 | | privilege, shall be open to the public and publicly noticed at |
19 | | least two days prior to the meeting. All records of the |
20 | | Commission, including communications between Commissioners |
21 | | regarding the Commission's work, shall be open for public |
22 | | inspection, except for records qualified under attorney-client |
23 | | privilege. The Commission shall adopt rules governing its |
24 | | procedure, public hearings, and the implementation of matters |
25 | | under this Section. The Commission shall hold public hearings |
26 | | throughout the State both before and after releasing the |
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1 | | initial proposed redistricting plan. The Commission may not |
2 | | adopt a final redistricting plan unless the plan to be adopted |
3 | | without further amendment, and a report explaining its |
4 | | compliance with this Constitution, have been publicly noticed |
5 | | at least seven days before the final vote on such plan. |
6 | | (f) If the Commission fails to adopt and file with the |
7 | | Secretary of State a redistricting plan by June 30 of the year |
8 | | following a Federal decennial census, the Chief Justice of the |
9 | | Supreme Court and the most senior Judge of the Supreme Court |
10 | | who is not affiliated with the same political party as the |
11 | | Chief Justice shall appoint jointly by July 31 a Special |
12 | | Commissioner for Redistricting. The Special Commissioner shall |
13 | | adopt and file with the Secretary of State by August 31 a |
14 | | redistricting plan satisfying the requirements set forth in |
15 | | subsection (a) of this Section and a report explaining its |
16 | | compliance with this Constitution. The Special Commissioner |
17 | | shall hold at least one public hearing in the State before |
18 | | releasing his or her initial proposed redistricting plan and at |
19 | | least one public hearing in a different location in the State |
20 | | after releasing his or her initial proposed redistricting plan, |
21 | | and before filing the final redistricting plan with the |
22 | | Secretary of State. All records of the Special Commissioner |
23 | | shall be open for public inspection, except for records |
24 | | qualified under attorney-client privilege. |
25 | | (g) An adopted redistricting plan filed with the Secretary |
26 | | of State shall be presumed valid and shall be published |
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1 | | promptly by the Secretary of State. |
2 | | (h) The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in |
3 | | cases relating to matters under this Section. |
4 | | (a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and
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5 | | substantially equal in population. Representative Districts |
6 | | shall be compact,
contiguous, and substantially equal in |
7 | | population.
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8 | | (b) In the year following each Federal decennial census |
9 | | year, the
General Assembly by law shall redistrict the |
10 | | Legislative Districts and the
Representative Districts.
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11 | | If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of |
12 | | that year, a
Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be |
13 | | constituted not later than
July 10. The Commission shall |
14 | | consist of eight members, no more than
four of whom shall be |
15 | | members of the same political party.
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16 | | The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of |
17 | | Representatives shall
each appoint to the Commission one |
18 | | Representative and one person who is
not a member of the |
19 | | General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader
of the |
20 | | Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and one
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21 | | person who is not a member of the General Assembly.
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22 | | The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State by |
23 | | the
appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission shall |
24 | | be filled
within five days by the authority that made the |
25 | | original appointment. A
Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be |
26 | | chosen by a majority of all members
of the Commission.
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1 | | Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with |
2 | | the
Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at |
3 | | least five
members.
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4 | | If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting |
5 | | plan, the
Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons, |
6 | | not of the same
political party, to the Secretary of State not |
7 | | later than September 1.
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8 | | Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State publicly |
9 | | shall
draw by random selection the name of one of the two |
10 | | persons to serve as
the ninth member of the Commission.
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11 | | Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with |
12 | | the
Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at |
13 | | least five
members.
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14 | | An approved redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of |
15 | | State
shall be presumed valid, shall have the force and effect |
16 | | of law and
shall be published promptly by the Secretary of |
17 | | State.
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18 | | The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive |
19 | | jurisdiction over
actions concerning redistricting the House |
20 | | and Senate, which shall be
initiated in the name of the People |
21 | | of the State by the Attorney
General.
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22 | | (Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4, |
23 | | 1980.)
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24 | | SCHEDULE
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25 | | This Constitutional Amendment takes effect beginning with |