Will Co. Starts Reapportioning Districts For Next Election

WILL COUNTY, IL — The Will County Board Members are required to reapportion their district map every 10 years and with that in mind, the ad-hoc Reapportionment Committee met virtually on March 2 to review the process.

Last year, officials drew a map consisting of 13 districts with about 51,000 residents each. Each district has two elected representatives on the board. This year's process will be less complex compared to that undertaken in 2010 because the population has grown much less since 2010 than it did between 2000 and 2010, said committee member Don Gould (R-Shorewood).

He said the last reapportionment was very successful in increasing representation of voters of color. Nick Palmer, the chief of staff to the board, said the process of drawing the map is easier than in the past with technology from the county’s Geographic Information Systems.

The board needs to approve a new map by its July meeting, but that might be a problem since the U.S. Census data might not be available by then. The U.S. Census Bureau announced last month that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays, it will not be able to deliver the block-level data that states need for redistricting until Sept. 30, long past the deadline mentioned in the Illinois Constitution for the General Assembly to approve new maps.

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