Lying about fair maps in Illinois

77% of Illinois voters believe corruption in Illinois government is widespread, according 
to a 2012 Simon Poll.  They’re right: A recent University of Illinois study ranked 
Illinois the third most corrupt state. Voter cynicism is widespread. According to the 
National Conference on Citizenship, only 15% of Illinoisans believe state government does 
the right thing most of time. Yet we can’t hold politicians accountable because they have 
taken over the redistricting process.

Political leaders own redistricting—the process of drawing legislative maps. Behind 
closed doors, they rig the district boundaries to control who will be elected, leaving 
voters without a voice. These same politicians choose their voters, instead of the people 
deciding who will represent them. Legislators have little reason to listen to the needs 
of Illinois residents, because there’s no way for voters to hold them accountable.  Last 
year, Illinois House incumbents won 97% of their general election races; two-thirds of 
them did not even face a challenger. 

Our coalition aims to fix the broken process by putting an amendment on the November 2014 
ballot. Our proposed constitutional amendment would take redistricting out of the hands 
of politicians and give the power back to the people. This amendment brings independence 
to a broken, unfair, and secret process that gives politicians too much control.  We need 
to put the voters back in charge and our proposed system is transparent, nonpartisan and 
independent from the legislature.

Right now we are working to collect the signatures necessary to place the initiative on 
the November 2014 ballot. Petitioning will continue through April 2014, and then 
Illinoisans will be able to vote for real change in state government on Nov. 4, 2014.  

Do you want to get involved?  Please reach out to us from our website
http://independentmaps.org/