* Sara Burnett a the AP…

Illinois Democrats used inadequate data and an opaque process to draw new legislative districts, a Latino civil rights organization argued in the latest lawsuit seeking to block the maps from being used for statehouse elections over the next decade.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund sued top Democrats and state election officials late Thursday on behalf of five Latino registered voters from Illinois, saying the new maps are “malapportioned,” or not drawn to ensure equal representation of all populations. That could result in Latinos and other minority groups not being equitably represented in the Illinois General Assembly, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. […]

Pritzker and other Democrats who control Illinois state government dismissed the GOP lawsuit as partisan politics and said the maps are fair because they “ensure representation for diverse communities.” But the challenge from MALDEF expands the source of objections to the very groups whose voting rights Democrats say they are protecting.

“The answer is we don’t know,” said Thomas Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “We don’t know because of a lack of data and because of using wrong data.”

Click here to read the suit.