With the U.S. Census now pushing back the expected date of their decennial release of information into the window of the 2022 primary election process, Illinois’ political remapping process is facing new uncertainties.
Census officials announced Friday that they would be delayed by six months in distributing reapportionment data to states so that they can redraw their political boundaries. Their new deadline for data distribution is Sept. 30.
In Illinois, it was already expected that the state would miss its June 30 deadline to have an approved reapportionment but the new deadline is a month into when candidates are to gather petitions for the March primary elections. It’s likely impossible to collect signatures for districts when candidates aren’t sure where their district’s boundaries lie.
The question for Illinois becomes a matter of whether they create maps with unofficial Census data or do they move their March 15 primary election process back, allowing enough time for reapportionment to be completed.
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