Illinois Supreme Court blocks redistricting reform initiative. Here's why that's good for democracy

The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that a ballot initiative to create an independent legislative redistricting commission could not appear on the ballot because it conflicted with the state constitution. While this might seem like a setback for the fight against gerrymandering, believing that would be a mistake. Just because Illinois is a rare state Democrats gerrymandered doesn’t make the practice okay or any less undemocratic. The party with the most votes should win the most seats and voters should be able to have competitive races. However, this particular reform effort was both fatally flawed and a nefarious power grab by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Republicans.

Democratic and minority voters are disproportionately packed into cities like Chicago, which voted by a six-to-one margin for President Obama and is less than one-third non-Hispanic white. However, Republican-leaning suburbs and rural areas aren’t nearly as red. Consequently, compact nonpartisan districting will naturally create a handful of seats that are overwhelmingly Democratic, while safely Republican seats aren’t as one-sided. Although some analysts overstate the importance of geography bias nationally, it’s a major factor in Illinois and could allow Republicans to consistently win legislative majorities despite losing the statewide popular vote.

Democrats just barely kept three-fifths majorities in the 2014 wave even though Republicans gained the governor’s office. Their gerrymanders clearly give them more seats than a nonpartisan map might, as you will see below. Furthermore, their narrowly veto-proof majorities are clearly larger than they would be if Illinois awarded seats in proportion to the popular vote. Yet the fact remains that Illinois is a blue state and this distortion isn’t nearly as large in many Republican-drawn states. Even in 2014, Democratic congressional and legislative candidates won the statewide popular vote.

Gerrymandering is wrong even when Democrats do it and the Illinois legislature desperately needs reform, just like most states, but this proposed solution would only further thwart the electorate’s desires. At least when Democrats win modestly-outsized majorities, they do so with a popular vote majority. It would be naive at best or just plain dishonest to say that outcomes where Republicans frequently win majorities despite losing the popular vote are fairer simply because the districts are no longer gerrymandered. There are other reforms Illinois could undertake to create a fairer electoral system, such as proportional representation.