North Egypt News

Republican state Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) says she is fighting to make sure the will of the people is served when it comes to map redistricting.

“The voters said to this state, to leadership, in overwhelming number that they prefer an independent map, meaning take the politicians out of the process,” Bryant said in a video posted to YouTube.  “Illinois Democrats are once again gearing up to subvert the will of the people and they want to do it for their own political gain.”

Due to the delay of federal Census Bureau data largely caused by COVID-19, a bipartisan panel may redraw the maps this year, which GOP lawmakers are hoping will come to mean a fairer process.

Whatever happens, they know fair maps won’t come easily as Democrats continue to push for the process to stay the same way it’s always been. While the task normally goes to the party in control, bylaws dictate if a new map is not completed by a June 30 deadline, a bipartisan commission with four members from each party chosen by party leaders will supervise redistricting.

“This is the same song and dance that those of us in the minority have come to expect from the majority party,” Bryant added. “Gov. Pritzker said he was going to be different. He promised independent maps for the people of Illinois, yet he continues to enable politicians who have run Springfield for decades to continue with the status quo. “

Bryant argues the time for change in the interest of a fairer process has been a long time coming.

“In this process, remember many good government groups have been pushing for an independent commission and they’ve been doing that for a decade and over 600,000 voters signed petitions,” she added. “The people of Illinois are not dumb and as they’re paying attention. The governor might forget his promise and think they’re not paying attention. They’re done with accepting that those in charge of the state somehow always seem to have time for their own personal agenda but never anything like an independent map.”

Bryant is calling on voters to take a stand now to make sure their voices are heard.

“Democrats are moving forward with drawing a partisan map to let the incumbents pick their own voters and preserve their own power,” she said. “ I would say that Gov. Pritzker  can hide behind non-answers but the people of Illinois are smarter than he gives them credit for. The question is if the governor is going to insure that we have a map drawn by an independent commission for the next 10 years or is he going to back down on his word and let his Democrat cronies draw the maps and keep themselves in power. “