CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The census has come to an end and Illinois might not like the final count.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Sunday that Illinois had been expected to lose one of its 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives — and with it, one of its votes in the Electoral College.
But now, an expert on legislative redistricting said the effect of the pandemic on the census could mean an undercount that could cost Illinois a second congressional seat.
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“I don’t think it’s game over yet, and we have to wait to see the numbers, but it’s a concern,” James Lewis, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Rob Paral & Associates, told the Sun-Times.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said last month a 1% undercount would equal a loss of $195 million a year in federal funding for the state and its residents, the Sun-Times reported.
“I wouldn’t be surprise is it mounted to a billion dollar loss over 10 years,” Christopher Mooney, the W. Russell Arrington Professor of State Politics at the UIC, told the Sun-Times.
A single congressional district represents approximately 700,000 people on average.