We’ve seen strong leadership and exhaustive efforts from our executive branches of government in Chicago and Illinois since March. And it’s clear legislators are working to help their constituents stay safe and sane in this unprecedented time.

We’ve seen strong leadership and exhaustive efforts from our executive branches of government in Chicago and Illinois since March. And it’s clear legislators are working to help their constituents stay safe and sane in this unprecedented time.

Yet, while Congress has been managing to convene and approve relief aid packages, the Illinois General Assembly has not met or approved anything since March. Illinois legislators have not voted on anything for nearly two months now.

More and more, it appears our needed focus on this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic means systemic, constitutional redistricting reform will not happen. The state’s constitution says lawmakers must meet in the state’s capital unless the governor convenes them elsewhere under special circumstances. There don’t seem to be plans to risk doing that. The constitution also says ballot questions must be approved by a supermajority vote of the Illinois House and Senate six months before the election. So, unless the national election is delayed, it appears getting the question on the ballot to amend the constitution won’t happen by the May 3 deadline.

That is a frustrating shame for most Illinois voters. For decades, Illinoisans have demanded an end to partisan gerrymandering. Polling confirms this fact. A poll Change Illinois commissioned in February demonstrated an unprecedented 75 percent of voters support independent redistricting. That positive momentum is underscored by the growth of groups supporting redistricting reform. Nearly three dozen diverse organizations representing communities of color, businesses, farmers, senior citizens and more from all over Illinois support the Fair Maps Amendment.

Gerrymandering is a foundational problem that must be addressed. Those of us who support it must not and will not stop fighting for it. If we cannot enshrine a more equitable process in the constitution, then we will push for as many improvements as we can through legislation whenever the General Assembly can figure out a way to return to lawmaking. We cannot abide the same corrupt process for another decade. The constitution says lawmakers must approve maps, but a citizens’ commission still could draw and recommend them to lawmakers. Citizens who reflect our state’s racial, ethnic and geographic diversity still can draw maps more faithful to the people’s interests than a group of politicians behind closed doors whose fealty is to their political party.

And Democrats who think they will keep their gerrymandering power should examine recent developments. If the Census Bureau succeeds in delaying finishing up the census and reporting population data to the states until July 31 of next year, then the constitution says, by that date, an eight-person commission split evenly between four Republicans and four Democrats draws maps. Nearly every time it’s gotten to that point in Illinois, the split commission punted. The constitution then says the political party to control map drawing will be determined by pulling a name from a hat. That would mean Republicans have a 50-50 chance of winning the power.

None of those scenarios will be good for the people of Illinois who are reeling as they struggle to recover from this pandemic.

Gerrymandering fuels political polarization as lawmakers with safe seats worry only about primary challengers and pleasing their political patrons. It steals our voices and our choices at the ballot box as fewer people run when they know the game is rigged.

As state Sen. Melinda Bush, a Grayslake Democrat and chief sponsor of the Fair Maps Amendment, told League of Women Voters members recently, “Let’s have people, not parties, decide who their elected officials will be.”

We might lose the battle for an amendment on our November ballot, but we know gerrymandering is cheating. We still can improve the political mapping process if lawmakers of good conscience continue to join us and do right by the people of Illinois.

This column was originally published by Crain’s Chicago Business.