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| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0001 Introduced , by Rep. Ryan Spain SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
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| | ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2 | ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3 |
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Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Removes the requirement for each Legislative District to be divided into two Representative Districts. Modifies provisions concerning legislative redistricting. Provides specified requirements for each Legislative District, Representative District, and
Congressional District for redistricting purposes. Replaces the current method of legislative redistricting. Provides for the creation of a sixteen-member commission, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Supreme Court Justice of a different political party, in accordance with specified criteria. Requires the commission to adopt and file with the Secretary of State redistricting plans for Legislative, Representative, and Congressional Districts following a series of public hearings by August 1 of the year following a federal decennial census. Permits the public to submit redistricting plans during the redistricting process for consideration by the Commission. Specifies that, if a redistricting plan is not adopted by August 1 of the year following a federal decennial census, then a seventeenth member shall be appointed to the commission and redistricting plans shall be filed by September 1. Adds provisions concerning the membership of the commission and budgetary matters related to the commission. Effective upon being declared adopted and applicable to redistricting beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly members beginning in 2032.
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1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | | CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
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3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE |
4 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE |
5 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the |
6 | | electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general |
7 | | election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption |
8 | | of this resolution a proposition to amend Article IV of the |
9 | | Illinois Constitution by changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:
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10 | | ARTICLE IV
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11 | | THE LEGISLATURE
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12 | | (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2)
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13 | | SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION
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14 | | (a) One Senator shall be elected from each Legislative |
15 | | District.
Immediately following each decennial redistricting, |
16 | | the General Assembly
by law shall divide the Legislative |
17 | | Districts as equally as possible
into three groups. Senators |
18 | | from one group shall be elected for terms of
four years, four |
19 | | years and two years; Senators from the second group,
for terms |
20 | | of four years, two years and four years; and Senators from the
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21 | | third group, for terms of two years, four years and four years. |
22 | | The
Legislative Districts in each group shall be distributed |
23 | | substantially
equally over the State.
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1 | | (b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two |
2 | | Representative
Districts. In 1982 and every two years |
3 | | thereafter one Representative shall
be elected from each |
4 | | Representative District for a term of two years.
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5 | | (c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General |
6 | | Assembly, a
person must be a United States citizen, at least 21 |
7 | | years old, and for
the two years preceding his election or |
8 | | appointment a resident of the
district which he is to |
9 | | represent. In the general election following a
redistricting, |
10 | | a candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from
any |
11 | | district which contains a part of the district in which he |
12 | | resided
at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a |
13 | | resident of the new
district he represents for 18 months prior |
14 | | to reelection.
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15 | | (d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be |
16 | | filled by
appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in |
17 | | a Senatorial office
with more than twenty-eight months |
18 | | remaining in the term, the appointed
Senator shall serve until |
19 | | the next general election, at which time a
Senator shall be |
20 | | elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If the
vacancy |
21 | | is in a Representative office or in any other Senatorial |
22 | | office,
the appointment shall be for the remainder of the |
23 | | term. An appointee to
fill a vacancy shall be a member of the |
24 | | same political party as the
person he succeeds.
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25 | | (e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive |
26 | | compensation as
a public officer or employee from any other |
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1 | | governmental entity for time
during which he is in attendance |
2 | | as a member of the General Assembly.
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3 | | No member of the General Assembly during the term for |
4 | | which he was
elected or appointed shall be appointed to a |
5 | | public office which shall
have been created or the |
6 | | compensation for which shall have been
increased by the |
7 | | General Assembly during that term.
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8 | | (Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4, |
9 | | 1980.)
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10 | | (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3)
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11 | | SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
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12 | | (a) As used in this Section, "consumer price index-u" |
13 | | means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of |
14 | | the United States Department of Labor or a successor agency |
15 | | that measures the average change in prices of goods and |
16 | | services purchased by all urban consumers, United States city |
17 | | average, all items, 1982-84=100. |
18 | | (b) Each Legislative District, Representative District, |
19 | | and
Congressional District shall, in the following order of |
20 | | priority: |
21 | | (1) fully comply with the United States Constitution |
22 | | and federal laws,
such as the federal Voting Rights Act; |
23 | | (2) be substantially equal in population; |
24 | | (3) provide racial
minorities and language minorities |
25 | | with the equal opportunity
to participate in the political |
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1 | | process and elect
candidates of their choice; |
2 | | (4) provide racial minorities and
language minorities |
3 | | who constitute less than a voting-age
majority of a |
4 | | Legislative District, Representative District, or |
5 | | Congressional District with an opportunity to |
6 | | substantially
influence the outcome of an election; |
7 | | (5) be contiguous; |
8 | | (6) be
compact; |
9 | | (7) respect, to the extent practical, geographic
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10 | | integrity of units of local government; |
11 | | (8) respect, to the extent
practical, communities |
12 | | sharing common social or economic
interests; and |
13 | | (9) not discriminate against or in favor of any
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14 | | political party or individual. |
15 | | (c) No later than December 30 of the year that each
federal |
16 | | decennial census occurs, the Chief Justice and the
most senior |
17 | | Supreme Court Justice who is not elected
from the same |
18 | | political party as the Chief Justice shall
select sixteen |
19 | | commissioners to form an Independent
Redistricting Commission. |
20 | | The commissioners shall reflect the
ethnic, gender, and racial |
21 | | demographics of Illinois.
Fourteen of the commissioners shall |
22 | | represent, in equal number, the two
political parties whose |
23 | | gubernatorial candidates received the
greatest number of votes |
24 | | in the last gubernatorial election. Two of the commissioners |
25 | | shall represent neither of those parties. The two Justices |
26 | | responsible for selecting the sixteen commissioners shall |
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1 | | consider party identification and all campaign contributions |
2 | | in determining a potential commissioner's eligibility. There |
3 | | shall be at least
two commissioners from each Judicial |
4 | | District. |
5 | | (d) A person is ineligible to serve on the Commission if,
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6 | | within the preceding four calendar years, the person or his or
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7 | | her spouse or immediate family member was appointed or elected
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8 | | to a position with the State, federal, or local
government; is |
9 | | a State employee; is a lobbyist as defined by
law; has an |
10 | | ownership interest in an entity
with a State or federal |
11 | | contract; or is appointed or elected to
serve a political |
12 | | party. A commissioner is ineligible for a
period of 10 years to |
13 | | serve in the General Assembly or to be
appointed to a position |
14 | | subject to Senate confirmation. Commissioners must file |
15 | | financial disclosure statements
and abide by any ethics |
16 | | requirements established by law. |
17 | | (e) The Commission shall act in public meetings by the
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18 | | affirmative vote of ten commissioners. The Commission shall
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19 | | elect its chairperson and vice chairperson, who shall not be
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20 | | affiliated with the same political party. Each meeting of the
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21 | | Commission shall be open to the public. There must be public |
22 | | notice at
least seven days before a meeting. All records of the
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23 | | Commission, including all communications to or from the
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24 | | Commission regarding the work of the Commission, shall be
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25 | | available for public inspection. The Commission shall adopt
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26 | | rules governing its procedures. The Commission shall be |
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1 | | considered a public body subject to the Freedom of Information |
2 | | Act or a successor Act and the Open Meetings Act or a successor |
3 | | Act. Commissioners and staff may
not communicate with or |
4 | | receive communications about
redistricting matters from anyone |
5 | | outside of a public
hearing. |
6 | | (f) The Commission shall hold at least twenty public
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7 | | hearings throughout the State before adopting a
redistricting |
8 | | plan, with a majority of the hearings occurring before the
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9 | | Commission releases any proposed redistricting plan. At
least |
10 | | 10 public hearings must occur throughout the State after the
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11 | | release of any proposed redistricting plan. |
12 | | The Commission must provide a meaningful opportunity for
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13 | | racial minorities and language minorities to participate in
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14 | | the public hearings, including, but not limited to, issuing |
15 | | notices in
multiple languages and ensuring that translation |
16 | | services are
available at all hearings at the Commission's |
17 | | expense or
through partnership with outside organizations. |
18 | | These public
hearings must be open to all members of the public |
19 | | and must
be planned to encourage attendance and participation |
20 | | across
the State, including the use of technology that allows |
21 | | for
real-time, virtual participation and feedback during the
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22 | | hearings. When releasing a proposed redistricting plan, the
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23 | | Commission must also release population data, geographic data,
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24 | | election data, and any other data used to create the plan, when |
25 | | the
Commission receives this information. The Commission must |
26 | | also provide terminals for members of
the public to access the |
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1 | | data and associated software. During the
redistricting |
2 | | process, any member of the public may submit redistricting |
3 | | proposals for
consideration to the Commission. Those |
4 | | submissions are public
records that are open to comment. |
5 | | The
Commission may not adopt a redistricting plan until |
6 | | the
Commission adopts and publishes a report explaining
the |
7 | | plan's compliance with the United States Constitution and |
8 | | Illinois
Constitution. Before the adoption of a redistricting |
9 | | plan,
the Commission shall release to the public
the final |
10 | | plan and its associated compliance report. The
meeting to vote |
11 | | on adoption of a redistricting plan shall
occur no sooner than |
12 | | thirty days after the release of the
final plan and its |
13 | | associated compliance report. All proposed
and adopted |
14 | | redistricting plans and any data used to develop these |
15 | | redistricting plans are public
records. The Commission shall |
16 | | maintain a website or other similar
electronic platform to |
17 | | disseminate information about the
Commission, including |
18 | | records of its meetings and hearings,
proposed redistricting |
19 | | plans, assessments and reports on plans, and
to allow the |
20 | | public to view its meetings and hearings in both live
and |
21 | | archived form. The website or electronic platform must allow
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22 | | the public to submit redistricting plans and comments on
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23 | | redistricting plans to the Commission for its consideration. |
24 | | (g) The Commission shall adopt and file with the Secretary
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25 | | of State a redistricting plan for the Legislative Districts,
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26 | | Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts by
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1 | | August 1 of the year following the federal decennial census.
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2 | | The Commission may adopt separate redistricting plans
for the |
3 | | Legislative Districts, the Representative
Districts, and the |
4 | | Congressional Districts. |
5 | | (h) If the Commission fails to adopt and file a
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6 | | redistricting plan by August 1 of the year following a
federal
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7 | | decennial census, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and
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8 | | the most senior Supreme Court Justice who is not
elected from |
9 | | the same political party as the Chief Justice
shall appoint, |
10 | | by August 8, a seventeenth member to the Commission.
The |
11 | | seventeenth member of the Commission must not be
affiliated |
12 | | with either major political party. The seventeen-member |
13 | | Commission shall adopt and file with the Secretary of
State |
14 | | redistricting plans for the Legislative Districts,
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15 | | Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts by
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16 | | September 1 of the year following the federal decennial |
17 | | census. |
18 | | (i) Members of the Commission shall be compensated at the
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19 | | rate of $37.50 for each hour the member
is engaged in |
20 | | Commission business. For each succeeding
Commission, the rate |
21 | | of compensation shall be adjusted in
each year of the federal |
22 | | decennial census by the cumulative change in the consumer |
23 | | price index-u or a successor metric. Members of the Commission |
24 | | are
eligible for reimbursement of personal expenses incurred |
25 | | in
connection with the duties performed pursuant to this |
26 | | Section. A
member's residence is deemed to be the member's |
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1 | | post of duty
for purposes of reimbursement of expenses. |
2 | | (j) Within thirty days after the selection of the |
3 | | Independent Redistricting Commission, the Governor
shall |
4 | | include in the budget submitted under Section 2 of Article |
5 | | VIII to the
General Assembly amounts of funding for the |
6 | | Commission and
the Secretary of State that are sufficient to |
7 | | meet the
estimated expenses of each of those officers or |
8 | | entities in
implementing the redistricting process required by |
9 | | this Section
for a three-year period, including, but not |
10 | | limited to,
adequate funding for a statewide outreach program |
11 | | to solicit
broad public participation in the redistricting |
12 | | process. The
Governor shall also make adequate office space |
13 | | available for the operation of the Commission. The General |
14 | | Assembly shall make the necessary appropriation for the |
15 | | Commission, and the appropriation shall be available during |
16 | | the entire 3-year period. The appropriation made shall be |
17 | | equal to the greater of $3,000,000 or the amount expended in |
18 | | accordance with this subsection in the immediately preceding
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19 | | redistricting process, as each amount is adjusted by the
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20 | | cumulative change in inflation based on the consumer price |
21 | | index-u or a successor metric, since the date of the
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22 | | immediately preceding appropriation made in accordance with |
23 | | this
subsection. The General Assembly may make additional
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24 | | appropriations in any year that it determines that the
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25 | | Commission requires additional funding in order to fulfill
its |
26 | | duties. The Commission, with fiscal oversight from
the |
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1 | | Comptroller or its successor, shall have procurement and
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2 | | contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants, for
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3 | | the purposes of this Section, including legal representation. |
4 | | (k) A redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of State |
5 | | shall be presumed valid and shall be published promptly by the |
6 | | Secretary of State. |
7 | | (l) The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive |
8 | | jurisdiction over actions concerning the redistricting of the |
9 | | Congressional, Legislative, and Representative Districts, |
10 | | which shall be initiated in the name of the People of the State |
11 | | by the Attorney General. Each person who resides or is |
12 | | domiciled in the State, or whose executive office or principal |
13 | | place of business is located in the State, may bring an action |
14 | | in a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain any of the |
15 | | relief available. |
16 | | (a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and
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17 | | substantially equal in population. Representative Districts |
18 | | shall be compact,
contiguous, and substantially equal in |
19 | | population.
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20 | | (b) In the year following each Federal decennial census |
21 | | year, the
General Assembly by law shall redistrict the |
22 | | Legislative Districts and the
Representative Districts.
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23 | | If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of |
24 | | that year, a
Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be |
25 | | constituted not later than
July 10. The Commission shall |
26 | | consist of eight members, no more than
four of whom shall be |
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1 | | members of the same political party.
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2 | | The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of |
3 | | Representatives shall
each appoint to the Commission one |
4 | | Representative and one person who is
not a member of the |
5 | | General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader
of the |
6 | | Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and |
7 | | one
person who is not a member of the General Assembly.
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8 | | The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State |
9 | | by the
appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission |
10 | | shall be filled
within five days by the authority that made the |
11 | | original appointment. A
Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be |
12 | | chosen by a majority of all members
of the Commission.
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13 | | Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with |
14 | | the
Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at |
15 | | least five
members.
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16 | | If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting |
17 | | plan, the
Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons, |
18 | | not of the same
political party, to the Secretary of State not |
19 | | later than September 1.
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20 | | Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State |
21 | | publicly shall
draw by random selection the name of one of the |
22 | | two persons to serve as
the ninth member of the Commission.
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23 | | Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with |
24 | | the
Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at |
25 | | least five
members.
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26 | | An approved redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of |
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1 | | State
shall be presumed valid, shall have the force and effect |
2 | | of law and
shall be published promptly by the Secretary of |
3 | | State.
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4 | | The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive |
5 | | jurisdiction over
actions concerning redistricting the House |
6 | | and Senate, which shall be
initiated in the name of the People |
7 | | of the State by the Attorney
General.
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8 | | (Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4, |
9 | | 1980.)
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10 | | SCHEDULE
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11 | | This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being |
12 | | declared adopted in accordance with Section of the Illinois |
13 | | Constitutional Amendment Act and applies to redistricting
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14 | | beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly
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15 | | members beginning in 2032.
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