The Illinois Supreme Court issued a ruling addressing time requirements for bringing
constitutional challenges to a legislative redistricting plan adopted by the
Illinois General Assembly. McCombie v. Illinois State Bd. of Elections.
Following the 2020 decennial
census, the Illinois General Assembly adopted a redistricting plan (2021 Map) drawing new legislative districts to elect state
representatives and state senators beginning at the 2022 general election. Plaintiffs challenged the 2021 Map arguing it was unconstitutional as
the new legislative districts were not compact, contiguous, and substantially
equal in population as required under the Illinois Constitution. Additionally, Plaintiffs argued the 2021 Map was an unconstitutional partisan
gerrymander that denied voters and Republican candidates for the General Assembly a
fair election.
The Illinois
Speaker of the House and Illinois Senate President intervened in the case
arguing the Plaintiff’s lawsuit was not timely filed and was barred under a latches
defense because they had filed their lawsuit more than three years since the 2021 Map was first adopted and two elections for General Assembly members had occurred based on the 2021 Map. The intervenors argued the lawsuit should be dismissed under their laches defense because Plaintiffs lacked due diligence in bringing their lawsuit and the opposing party experienced
prejudice due to the delay.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled
against Plaintiffs and dismissed the lawsuit based on a laches defense. The Court noted Plaintiffs could have challenged the
2021 Map when it was first adopted and that waiting multiple election
cycles to reveal the effects of the redistricting was unpersuasive. According to
the Court, allowing Plaintiffs to challenge the 2021 Map now “would
be prejudicial and create uncertainty for voters and officeholders alike, now
and in the future, as to whether any redistricting plan in Illinois is ever
final.”
Post Authored by Tyler Smith, Ancel Glink