We've filed the first lawsuit following the Louisiana Callais SCOTUS case. Our client alleges the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011's redistricting mandates violate the 15th Amendment and Section 2a of the national Voting Rights Act of 1965.
@JBPritzker explicitly adopted racial purposes behind redistricting guidelines, namely sorting and allocating political power based on race. 🧵
When @JBPritzker signed Illinois’ new maps in 2021, he added, “the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 ensures redistricting plans are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power. The maps signed into law today meet those requirements to adequately preserve minority representation and reflect the diversity of our state.”
@JBPritzker “States may not use race to allocate power,” PILF President and General Counsel @ElectionLawCtr said.
Mandated forms of racially allocated districts in IL:
Crossover Districts: Crossovers are ones where majority voters vote with the racial minority to elect the racial minority’s preferred candidate. A mandate for crossover districts requires explicit consideration of race.
Coalition Districts: These are deliberate intentional fusions of two different racial groups to require the creation of districts that fuse racial groups explicitly. Coalition districts are racial coalitions, and to require racial coalitions as a redistricting standard is a brazen impermissible racial purpose.
Influence Districts: These are where the racial minority may influence the election even if it cannot elect its preferred candidate. A mandate for influence districts requires explicit consideration of race.
Callais made explicit racial redistricting criteria unconstitutional. If a state law requires the allocation of power based on race, it violates the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Race may not be used to draw any legislative districts unless a specific violation of the Voting Rights Act is being remedied. This prohibition extends to school districts, state legislative districts, county council, Congressional districts or any line drawing exercise. The Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 mandates racial districts.
@JBPritzker @ElectionLawCtr Read more: publicinterestlegal.org/press/lawsuit-…
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