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Illinois lawmakers are pausing efforts to pass a constitutional amendment on redistricting after a major U.S. Supreme Court decision weakened a key part of the federal Voting Rights Act. Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the Senate will not call a vote on the amendment, which cleared the House last week, after the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map for racial gerrymandering. Harmon said lawmakers need time to fully understand the ruling before advancing any changes, noting, “It’s much more important to get this correct than to do it quickly.” The proposed amendment would have required the consideration of race in drawing legislative districts and written significant Voting Rights Act protections into the Illinois Constitution. However, the new Supreme Court ruling makes it harder to challenge maps based only on their effects on minority voters, shifting focus to lawmakers’ intent. With a May 3rd deadline to put constitutional amendments on the November ballot, action on the measure is delayed until at least 2028. Governor JB Pritzker called the Supreme Court decision “an attack on a crown jewel of our democracy.” House Republicans argued the amendment would enable more gerrymandering and called it unconstitutional under the new court standard. For now, Illinois Democrats say they have no plans to redraw congressional maps, and any future redistricting reforms will be delayed as lawmakers analyze the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision.