Galesburg Reporter

State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) joined the chorus of Illinois Republican voices decrying the new legislative district maps approved by the General Assembly’s lower chamber late last month.

The Daily Chronicle reported that the state House approved the newly drawn maps 73-43 along party lines, a move Tracy and her fellow Republicans have heavily criticized.

Tracy argued the maps are an example of corruption associated with absolute power.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and we have the perfect example in the maps that passed Aug. 31 and the process in which they were created,” the senator posted on Facebook. “Tell Governor Pritzker to keep his promise! Sign our petition to veto the maps." She included links to the petition and to send the governor a message.

Majority lawmakers revealed new maps on Aug. 30, revealed a second set of revised maps on Aug. 31, and approved them hours later without undergoing thorough review.

Change Illinois asserted that the new maps reduced, from those previously adopted, the numbers of majority Black voting age population districts and majority Latino voting age population districts despite Democratic leaders claiming they would honor the state’s rich diversity.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a Latino civil rights organization, pursued legal action earlier this year on grounds the maps were based on data from the American Community Survey and not the 2020 census, the Daily Chronicle reported.