Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected (voting along party lines) House Republicans’ lawsuit against Democrats’ gerrymandered legislative maps based on the laches doctrine, or a lack of timeliness. Even more frustrating in this decision is that it was the Court, not the defendants, who raised the laches defense, something Justice Overstreet showed clearly to be meritless in his strongly worded dissent.
This decision only stands to disenfranchise voters and allow Illinois’ Democratic majority to continue drawing gerrymandered districts. Remember, the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which assesses legislative maps around the country using several metrics, gave the current Illinois map a failing “F” grade.
For more from The Center Square – Click Here.