Independent map can cut incumbents’ power
As Illinois lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner remain frozen over reforms and spending, it is noteworthy that the Independent Map Amendment supporters are still chugging along with their petition drive to reform the way state legislative districts are drawn.
The group needed 290,216 signatures on a petition to put an amendment to the Illinois Constitution on the November ballot. They have more than 400,000 toward their goal of 600,000 — more than double the minimum number of valid voter signatures so they can withstand any petition challenges from the entrenched politicians. They have until May.
As we recently saw, the Democrats redrew districts so that state Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, a Republican from Okawville, found himself in a new district that would have forced him to run against a fellow Republican. His choices were to take on that colleague and potentially reduce the Republican ranks by one, to sell his home or to claim to live in an apartment in the new district.
The 114th Illinois House District that Republican Bob Romanik and Democrat LaToya Greenwood are seeking looks like a letter “U” that includes East St. Louis and swoops south of Belleville to pick up Smithton and then Shiloh, part of O’Fallon and Lebanon. What common interests do those geographies have?
The net effect of letting politicians protect their own is that 60 percent of the state legislative races go uncontested. What newcomer wants to take on the uphill battle to get elected when large blocks of voters from the incumbent’s party are grouped together?
Both parties have sinned and cut up cities and populations to their benefit when they were in power. The map amendment would end that starting in 2021 with an 11-member non-partisan, independent commission charged with drawing state House and Senate districts that protect minority voting rights, keep geographies intact and are compact.
Voters can send a message to Springfield about business as usual by participating in the petition drive.
This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Independent map can cut incumbents’ power."