Who Should Draw the City’s Ward Map?

Efforts to Create an Independent Redistricting Commission

This is the sixth entry in our series on redistricting 2021.

CHANGE Illinois and other groups are planning to create an independent commission to draw the next Chicago ward map even if aldermen draw their own map.

If more than one map is proposed, all maps with the support of at least 10 aldermen will be presented to Chicago voters in a special election next year to decide which one is adopted.

“We plan to create an independent commission, but we also expect a majority of aldermen to create their own map,” said CHANGE Illinois executive director Madeleine Doubek. “We want to get 10 aldermen to support the map the commission produces. Historically, aldermen have tried to line up 41 votes to support their map to prevent any others from moving forward.” Fifty aldermen sit on the Chicago City Council.

Remapping is required every ten years after the federal census to reflect population changes. Data from the 2020 Census may not arrive until this summer, later than usual, but the redistricting process is already being discussed by the City Council. 

With control in the hands of aldermen, previous remapping was used to ensure incumbents’ reelection. CHANGE Illinois and other groups, including the League of Women Voters of Chicago, have been saying that an independent commission would make for a fairer process.

“The ward map should be the people’s map, not the politicians’ map,” Doubek said. “No more backroom deals by aldermen. If we return power to the people, and the map serves them, they will get better service and representation from their elected officials.”

Some members of the City Council agree. Two aldermen, Brian Hopkins (2) and Andre Vasquez (40), proposed at the January 27 City Council meeting that hearings be held “on reforms for [a] transparent and equitable redistricting process.” 

But just before that City Council meeting, Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26), chair of the Latino Caucus, held a news conference to oppose an independent commission. As reported by The Daily Line, Maldonado argued that it is a “myth” that “an independent commission would truly represent” the Latino community’s interests. Aldermen know their communities best and “should be the ones in control of creating” ward boundaries, he said.

Hopkins, who told The Daily Line that he “very much” supports an independent commission, countered, “For anyone to suggest the independent map process would be used to undermine minority representation is categorically false.” 

The chair of the Black Caucus, Ald. Jason Ervin (28), said he is open to hearings but thinks that the previous process with aldermen in charge of redistricting is “fine” and that aldermen can draw a map that is “fair and represents all interests.” When Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW in 2019 that she favored an independent commission, Ervin immediately said that he wants to maintain 18 majority-Black wards even though the city’s Black population has been decreasing.

Lightfoot has not repeated her call for a commission and now says that the process “can’t be a backroom, closed-door deal” without input from the public. 

“What I know is I’ve repeatedly heard from residents all across the city [is] that they feel like their neighborhood interests are not reflected best in ward boundaries,” Lightfoot said at a news conference after the January 27 City Council meeting. “We can do better than what the current map looks like.”

Hopkins told The Daily Line that he plans to bring experts to a City Council meeting to explain how an independent commission would work. He said that Ald. Michelle Harris (8), chair of the Committee on Committees and Rules, has agreed to hold hearings at some point.

Besides LWV Chicago, groups that are supporting an independent commission include Common Cause Illinois, the Chicago Urban League, the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, the Latino Policy Forum, Workers Center for Racial Justice, and the Metropolitan Planning Council.