DeKalb Times

A report that House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Westchester) provided party members a glimpse at potential new district lines has received backlash from Republicans questioning the transparency of the mapping process. 

In a May 6 WCIA report, some Democratic lawmakers confirmed that they had seen potential map configurations for new districts and noted that nothing was finalized. 

“It’s just preliminary drafts for each district,” Rep. Nick Smith (D-Chicago) told WCIA. 

Many Republicans, including state Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), said that locking everyone out is the exact opposite of transparency. 

"Throughout the redistricting hearings, we've heard from witness after witness about the need for more transparency," Syverson said in a May 6 Facebook post. "Locking everyone out and giving your party a sneak peek of their new districts is not, and will never be, a transparent process."

In a statement to WCIA, Welch's spokeswoman Jaclyn Driscoll, said "the room we’re talking to members in is actually the same we met in 10 years ago. This is and will remain a transparent process.” 

Republicans' have countered by saying that public turnout at redistricting meetings has been low, and Democrats should wait until the final census data has been released before creating new district maps.

The complete U.S. Census data will not be available until late September, nearly three months after a state constitutional deadline for lawmakers to submit a final map to the governor to sign.