[Chicago Tribune] A Cook County judge on Wednesday tossed from the fall ballot a constitutional amendment to take away the General Assembly's power to draw legislative district boundaries, dealing a loss to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and a win to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.The ruling marked the second time in three years that the Independent Maps group suffered a major legal setback in attempting to ask voters whether the state should remove much of the politics from redistricting. The stumbling block was the same as last time, with a judge finding the proposal did not fit a narrow legal window for a petition-driven initiative to change the Illinois Constitution.
Independent Maps chairman Dennis FitzSimons vowed to appeal the case to the Illinois Supreme Court in the hopes the question could still appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. Both FitzSimons' coalition and the People's Map group that filed the lawsuit anticipated that's where the case would end up anyway.
Madigan opposed the referendum, suggesting it would hurt protections on ensuring minority representation. The speaker has maintained his hold at the Capitol for more than three decades in part because he's had the power to draw the boundaries of legislative districts, and a longtime Madigan ally was the attorney for People's Map.