The League of Women Voters of Illinois filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging Democratic-drawn boundaries for the state legislature and congressional districts violate the U.S. Constitution and asked the court to order an impartial process to redraw the lines.

In essence, the group contends Democrats violated the First Amendment by using partisan voting information to draw district boundaries that favor their party.

"The General Assembly and governor have unlawfully selected residents to speak, debate, assemble and vote in these districts based upon their political viewpoints and opinions, without safeguards against the misuse of such criteria to regulate or abridge First Amendment rights for partisan ends," said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Republicans also have sued to challenge the legislative and congressional maps, created following the 2010 U.S. Census. The GOP had no input in the map-making process since Democrats control the legislature and the governor's office.

Democrats have acknowledged partisan voting data was taken into consideration in drawing the new maps, but maintain the boundaries are both "fair" and "competitive."

Republicans say both maps force many GOP incumbents to run against each other or against Democratic incumbents in new territory. At the congressional level, the GOP argues the new map would reverse the 11-8 majority it gained over Democrats in the 2010 national mid-term elections.

The League of Women Voters noted that Gov. Pat Quinn's own reform panel said Illinois' redistricting process was a "system rife with unfairness, inefficiency and self interest" that "deprives Illinois voters of fair representation."

Democrats held hearings and gave the public more of an opportunity to offer ideas for map-drawing this year but did their decision-making in private. The maps were essentially final drafts when they were made public, and there were few changes before Democrats approved them on party-line votes. Quinn quickly signed them.

"My view is that the process for redistricting, both the congressional districts and the state legislative districts, is the most open process Illinois has ever had," Quinn said in response to the lawsuit. "There was ample public participation and opportunity to participate.

"I looked at both maps in a very careful way and made a decision that they were fair (and) done through an open process."

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