North Cook News

A map of Illinois' voting districts is like some crazy jigsaw puzzle, Amanda Biela, who is running for the House District 15 seat, told the North Cook News recently.

“When I talk with constituents and they ask me about my district and its boundaries, they are always amazed at how far it reaches into the city and out into the suburbs,” Biela said. “They usually just shake their heads at the ridiculously drawn borders.”

The practice of drawing political maps in an effort to keep one party in power is known as gerrymandering, and Biela says it has gone on for too long.

Amanda Biela

“Gerrymandering goes against the founder's vision of representative government and is not in the best interest of our democracy,” Biela said. “It allows individuals and political parties to grab and maintain power at the expense of fair representation of the people in the district. 

"George Washington warned of such politicians being ‘cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men … enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.’ That's exactly what's happens with gerrymandering.”

Biela doesn't lay the blame with any one party, arguing that gerrymandering has been used to benefit – and harm – all sides.

“Both Republicans and Democrats have been complicit in this practice,” Biela said. “They protect their friends while at the same time make it harder for opponents to get elected. When this occurs, the voice of the people is diminished. In many cases, the parties are deciding who will ultimately fill the seat.”

Biela sees solutions, but only if there is enough political will.

“The sad thing is most people are resigned to the fact that gerrymandering exists and that nothing can be done about it,” Biela said. “But I believe there are reform measures that could be put into place. One reform tactic is to have an independent board made up of nonpartisan members drawing up districts. 

"Another is to have a computer algorithm design boundaries. Unfortunately, for any reforms to take place, you have to have buy-in from legislators and the political parties, and right now they benefit from gerrymandering too much to do away with it, even if it limits the will of the people.”

Fifteen Illinois Republicans and two Democrats are part of a larger group of legislators who have taken up the mantle of opposing gerrymandering, specifically by supporting a party to a U.S. Supreme Court case on the matter.

Illinois' 15th House District includes Morton Groves and Niles. The seat is currently held by Rep. John D'Amico (D-Chicago)