New Census delays could put Illinois’ primary date in question
(The Center Square) – 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 a 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.
“It may be all of the above,” said Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services. “It could be that you’re going to need to move the primary. The problem is the lateness of all of this data. County clerks and all of those people have to take the final plan and implement it.”
Dates for Illinois’ March 15 primary election are set by state statute, thus could possibly be moved by lawmakers.
Should the Legislature use the latest annual estimate, Brace said there is a possibility for a legal challenge but those are common in any remapping effort.
“When you do redistricting, everything is a legal challenge,” he said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker responded to a question about the issue Friday.
“It’s obviously extraordinarily difficult,” he said. “It was one thing when they said April. It’s another thing when they said September.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections is scheduled to meet Wednesday.
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