Editorial: There are viable options to keep fair-elections drive alive

For any with faint hopes that the state Supreme Court would emerge from its partisan cocoon and agree to reconsider allowing Illinoisans a voice in how lawmakers are elected, the court provided an emphatic silence this week.

In a 4-3 decision along party lines, the court ruled late last month that a citizens initiative redefining how legislative boundaries are drawn cannot appear on the November ballot because it would set some duties for a state officer, the auditor general.

The court refused a request to examine records of state constitutional debates, as it has done in every other similar case, for insights into the authors' thinking on citizen initiatives. It refused a request for guidance on any or all of six other objections from opponents it ignored in its August ruling. It issued its rejections without comment.

The court's rulings effectively leave the notion of fair elections in the lap of the legislature, which, judging from many lawmakers' pronouncements, you might think would be a hopeful sign. Lawmakers know that the 563,000 signatures collected in this ballot initiative indicate deep voter dissatisfaction with the current process, and they like to appear to be on board themselves.

But be forewarned. It's a time-honored tradition in Illinois politics to support popular positions that have no hope of circumventing the legislature's rules or power structure. To that end, two proposals were introduced near the end of the spring General Assembly session that largely existed solely so that lawmakers facing election could claim to support redistricting, although there was no realistic chance the measures could make the ballot. Competing bills were introduced - one in the House and one in the Senate - and both so late in the session it was nearly impossible for them to make the deadline to appear on the November ballot.

The bills passed in their respective houses but no attempt was made to reconcile them. So now, lawmakers can say they supported a redistricting amendment, but there is no hope of getting such a measure on this year's ballot.

But all is not lost. Far from it - as long as we insist that lawmakers stick to their claims of support for a change that is desperately needed if we are to return some semblance of fairness to our election process.

At least two very good alternatives remain. The Independent Map proposal wouldn't work as a citizen initiative, but it would be fine coming from the legislature. If lawmakers truly support it, they could effectively download the whole plan into a bill and approve that. They also could work to revise the House's measure, introduced by Marengo Democrat Jack Franks and broadly endorsed by nonpartisan groups like Common Cause as well as by some Republicans and Democrats who also supported the Independent Map movement.

Both options are effectively dead for this election, but they are very much alive for a November 2018 referendum, the next opportunity to vote on a constitutional issue - and the last opportunity to change the political mapmaking process before the 2020 Census.

With at least two options and plenty of time, lawmakers need just one thing - a sense of urgency.

They will get that only if we voters give it to them. The work of hundreds of volunteers, the signatures of more than a half-million Illinois citizens and the voices of millions of Independent Map Amendment supporters don't have to be in vain because of a partisan state Supreme Court and a power-hoarding legislative leadership.

Demand that your lawmakers express and demonstrate real support for viable change in the redistricting process. And, if they don't, remember: there's also still time to replace them.