A prominent redistricting reform advocate says he thinks the latest effort to change how the state draws legislative maps has enough support in the Illinois General Assembly to move forward.
But he said Gov. J.B. Pritzker needs to push legislative leaders to bring about a vote on amending the state constitution.
Brad McMillan is the co-chair of Change Illinois and the executive director of Bradley University’s Institute for Principled Leadership.
“We need him to use his influence to call for a vote on the Fair Map Amendment in the Senate and the House. Because we believe if there are votes in the two chambers, that we have the numbers," he said.
McMillan said there's a bipartisan, two-thirds majority of state senators who say they're willing to back the Change Illinois amendment that would take redistricting out of legislators' hands and give the responsbility to an independent redistricting commission.
But he said the group needs Pritzker to push leadership to bring it to a vote. McMillan's comments came during an event Monday at Bradley University.
Two prior attempts to create an independent redistricting commission in Illinois were struck down by the state Supreme Court.
Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said the governor backs "truly competitive elections" and will veto an unfair map, but did not say if he supports the Change Illinois redistricting proposal.
With unified control of the Governor's mansion and the General Assembly, Democrats are set to control the remapping process following the 2020 Census.
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