Kendall County Times

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Westchester) showed Democratic House legislators where the lines for potential new districts could be drawn behind the locked doors of Capitol Complex in May. 

In a May 6 report from WCIA, the revelation has elicited concerns from Republican legislators questioning the transparency of the process. 

"Throughout the redistricting hearings, we heard over and over again how the people wanted more transparency in the process. Meanwhile, Democrats have been meeting behind closed doors to review secret drafts of the map," Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said in a May 10 Facebook post. "As I recently said on Flannery Fired Up, this is NOT transparency. The people should pick their elected officials, instead of having their elected officials pick them behind closed doors."

Democrats have defended the redistricting process, saying that it has been transparent and maps are being crafted using input gathered at dozens of public meetings held statewide. 

“Soon, we will file the map, and the public will be given a chance to weigh in, including at additional public hearings,” Jaclyn Driscoll, Welch's spokeswoman, said in a statement to WCIA. “We’ve conducted roughly 30 public hearings listening to Illinoisans from all corners of the state about what their communities look like to them.”

Republicans' have countered that statement by saying that public turnout to the meetings has been low, and Democrats should wait until the final census data has been released before attempting to redistrict. 

The complete U.S. Census data is scheduled for release in late September. The delay has complicated redistricting, but lawmakers continue to press forward to meet a state constitutional deadline of June 30 for the governor to sign an updated map.