Democratic maps fail compactness test Jim Nowlan FacebookTwitterEmail Democratic mapmakers in Springfield have crafted new legislative district lines that are so laughably offensive to the Illinois Constitution that the state Supreme Court will either have to reject them outright, or confirm the court’s reputation for partisan political corruptness. You decide this one for yourselves, readers. The state charter is crystal clear: “Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and substantially equal in population. Representative Districts shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population.” Clear enough? Merriam-Webster defines compactness as “closely and neatly packed together; dense.” A circle is perfectly compact. A box is compact.