SPRINGFIELD – Legislators who divided Madison County into three judicial subcircuits haven’t provided geographic data necessary for preparing ballots, according to the master of the county’s maps.
Geographic information systems and programming manager Dave Parizon laid out his problems in an affidavit on Jan. 31.
State’s Attorney Tom Haine filed it in Sangamon County circuit court, where he seeks a preliminary injunction against the Judicial Circuits Districting Act.
In the affidavit, Parizon wrote that he and personnel capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographically referenced information.
That geographic spatial data, which includes boundaries of political subdivisions, are displayed in digital maps that allow users to see answers to their questions, Parizon wrote.
He also wrote that before legislators created subcircuits, no additional layers or overlays to spatial data were required to depict judicial subdivisions.
But following enactment, an additional layer with a resolution capable of determining the subcircuit constituency of all addresses would be required, he wrote.
For him to faithfully capture subcircuits as described in the Act, the overlay must use precinct descriptions that are no longer current, he wrote.
Haine had previously made the point, stating legislators used precinct data from last May but the county board changed boundaries in December.
Parizon identified 30 precincts that existed in May but no longer exist.
“The maintenance and use of two sets of precinct boundaries which do not comport and a majority of which having identical names but differing geographic boundaries will be required until a redrawing of subcircuit boundaries,” he wrote.
He wrote that as of Jan. 22, the beginning of petition circulation, the state provided no shapefiles depicting subcircuit boundaries.
A shapefile format can spatially describe points, lines, and polygons representing features like rivers and lakes.
“As of this date, the state of Illinois has provided no shapefiles depicting the boundaries of judicial subcircuits in Madison County as created by Public Act 102-0693,” Parizon wrote.
“Currently, the only available geographic representations of Madison County subcircuits under Public Act 102-0693 are Google Map definitions prepared before the passage of Public Act 102-0693, lacking the accuracy of a shapefile.”
He wrote that 822 ballot styles would have been required prior to passage and based on current data the number would increase by more than 150.
Haine also filed an affidavit that County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza signed on Jan. 21, when he challenged the Act.
“My office has been forced to make preparations to conduct subcircuit judicial elections in only days or weeks where other elections typically have months to a year to prepare to conduct without error,” Ming-Mendoza wrote.
She wrote that her office drafts ballots, arranges them, prints them, and provisions them to polling sites.
About a third of registered voters would have ballots that include judicial races, “yet the judicial subcircuits do not directly comport with any other current precincts or political subdivisions,” she wrote.
Ming-Mendoza’s affidavit also indicates that without shapefiles, she couldn’t confirm to all registered voters what subcircuit they reside in and whether they can sign petitions.
She wrote that registration cards were drafted, formatted, processed, and reviewed for content and errors, but that none of them contained subcircuit information.
“Neither I nor my office were consulted to discuss the wide reaching changes to the 2022 elections before the enactment of Public Act 102-0693,” she wrote.
Haine also filed an affidavit that attorney Deanna Litzenburg of rural Trenton signed on Jan. 31.
Litzenburg wrote that she previously applied for associate judge.
She wrote under the Act, she couldn’t run for judge this year.
“I will be unable to run until the seventh circuit judge vacancy arises, provided that an additional five circuit judge vacancies occur in the time before a redrawing of the subcircuits in 2031,” she wrote.
She wrote that she couldn’t accept Supreme Court appointment to fill a circuit judge vacancy until six vacancies are filled.
“My ability to offer myself as a candidate for circuit judge to the entirety of Madison County is eliminated by Public Act 102-0693 as enacted,” she wrote.
“Further, my ability to run for circuit judge in the third subcircuit as defined by Public Act 102-0693 will be deferred for several years, possibly decades.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, representing Governor J. B. Pritzker, must respond to the county’s motion for preliminary injunction by Feb. 7.
Circuit Judge Ryan Cadigan has set a hearing Feb. 15.
He entered a temporary restraining order for the county on Jan. 24, reinstating countywide elections.
The state election board complied, but the Supreme Court didn’t.
On Jan. 27, Raoul appealed to the Fourth District in Springfield.
“First, the circuit court did not preserve the status quo of a duly enacted law taking effect but rather upended the status quo,” he wrote.
He wrote that the purpose of the Act was to create a more diverse bench and provide minorities with a greater opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
He wrote that Cadigan committed error when he invalidated the Act statewide.
Haine responded to Raoul’s appeal on Jan. 31, stating Cadigan made it clear he would confine his order to Madison County.
“Petitioners take the shocking and unsupported position that the right to vote is not a protectable right,” Haine wrote.
“The Constitution does not give the General Assembly the power to arbitrarily extinguish or dilute the rights of voters in a particular county or section of a county."