Independent Maps coalition pushes for non-partisan, independent legislative redistricting commission

CHICAGO, April 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Independent Maps, a non-partisan statewide coalition, today launched a reform campaign to fix Illinois' damaged democracy.  The campaign's purpose is to win voter approval of a state constitutional amendment creating a non-partisan independent commission responsible for drawing Illinois General Assembly districts.

The coalition has begun circulating petitions to place the Independent Map Amendment before voters in November 2016.  Volunteers can download petitions and instructions at www.MapAmendment.org.  By law, the campaign has until May 2016 to collect at least 290,216 valid signatures of registered voters – equal to 8 percent of the total number of votes cast in the most recent election for governor.

"Independent Maps has been formed for one reason — to improve Illinois state government by making our legislators more accountable to voters," said Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps.  "Our state government will work best when legislators represent and are accountable to the people who elect them and not the politicians who draw the maps."

FitzSimons, Chairman of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and a former Chairman and CEO of Tribune Company, has volunteered to chair the Independent Maps coalition's board of directors, which includes prominent members of both major political parties, as well as leaders from the clergy, academia and philanthropic organizations. Patrick Brady, an attorney with business, government and political experience, will serve as Executive Director of the 2016 reform campaign.

Visit www.MapAmendment.org to read full news release with quotes from William Daley, former Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama; former Gov. Jim Edgar; Christie Hefner, a Director of the Center for American Progress; Sylvia Puente, Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum; Deborah Harrington, former President of the Woods Fund of Chicago; Peter Bensinger, former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; and Brad McMillan, Executive Director of the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service at Bradley University.

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SOURCE Independent Maps

Related Links

http://www.mapamendment.org