Remap hearing in Elgin will let voices be heard

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

ELGIN — Voters will have a chance to be heard on Illinois redistricting today, although it’s still unclear whether their voice will make a difference.

The House Democrats’ Redistricting Committee will host a hearing on legislative redistricting at 4 p.m. at The Centre of Elgin, ostensibly to gather input on how the boundaries for state and federal districts should be drawn. The meeting is part of a series being held across the state — hearings will also be held in Aurora and Joliet this week — before the Democrats reveal the new maps.

The announcement of final census numbers triggered redistricting, the process of redrawing political maps to balance population representation. The changes will affect both the state and the nation’s balance of power.

In 2012, Illinois will have 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives (one less than it does now), 59 state senators and 118 state representatives. Because a Democrat won the governor’s race, and Democrats hold majorities in the state’s Senate and House, that party will control the remapping process.

Today’s meeting in Elgin is supposed to help give Fox Valley voters a chance to weigh in on what they think is important when redrawing the maps. However, none of the recommendations at the hearing will be binding. The Democratic leaders do not have to consider them at all when drawing the new maps.

And, as is the political tradition, voters will not have a chance to see the maps before the hearing. All public comments will come before the maps are unveiled.

Sometime before May, a new map — with districts likely drawn to benefit Democrats — will emerge from party leadership for a vote in the Senate (34 Democrats, 24 Republicans) and House (64 Democrats, 54 Republicans). The Democrats will present their map before May or risk Republicans becoming involved in the process.

Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan’s office has created a redistricting website at www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting.