Illinois' League of Women Voters is challenging the new congressional and legislative maps drawn up by Democrats.
League President Jan Dorner says the lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago on Tuesday claims that the maps violate the First Amendment. She says her group looked carefully at the maps and concluded it was obvious that incumbent politicians "did not use objective criteria" to draw the new districts.
She says election results shouldn't be apparent before campaigns begin.
Prominent Republicans also have sued over the maps. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn defended both maps as fair when he signed them into law two months ago.
Dorner says both Democrats and Republicans have gerrymandered the maps for their own advantage throughout the years and that needs to stop.
