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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Independent Maps = Fair Elections in Illinois

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Above / From his office in the Stratton Building in Springfield, Representative Grant Wehrli helps readers understand where he sits in the State Capitol. One thing is for certain in this Midwestern state with many challenges, the interior of the dome that tops the Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield features scenes from nearly 200 years of Illinois history and stained glass windows, overlooking the Illinois houses of the executive and legislative branches of government. It’s a beauty!


This spring, both Republican and Democrat members of the General Assembly have renewed efforts to take politics out of the process of drawing our legislative district boundaries (redistricting). The General Assembly draws new legislative boundary maps every ten years after the federal census, so our next map will be drawn two years from now in 2020.

The reason why it’s so important to have an independent and unbiased process for drawing our district maps can be summed up in two words: fair elections. For far too long in Illinois the party in power has drawn the legislative maps specifically to enable them to win more legislative seats in upcoming elections. Districts are drawn to favor one party so heavily that may members of the General Assembly run unopposed election after election. That means that instead of you the voter choosing your Representative, the Representative instead gets to choose his or her voters.

We desperately need independent redistricting reform that will produce Illinois House and Senate Districts drawn without regard to partisanship or incumbency; and that would allow the public to view and participate in the map drawing process.

To change the current partisan process we must change the Illinois Constitution through adoption of a constitutional amendment. The amendment question must be put on the ballot for statewide voter approval by either passage of legislation in the General Assembly, or by a citizen initiative involving the collection of petition signatures. In our current legislative session seven different redistricting constitutional amendment proposals have been filed by legislators on both sides of the aisle.

Most recently, my House Republican colleagues and I introduced House Resolution 995 which calls for immediate action to adopt a new, independent redistricting process before the new maps are drawn in 2020.

According to a poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, 72 percent of Illinois residents, including a majority of both Republicans and Democrats, support the creation of an independent commission to draw legislative district maps, and that’s a powerful, bi-partisan majority.  If all of those supporters get involved, we will change the process.

Contact Speaker of the House & Senate President to pass legislation

You can get involved by contacting both Speaker Madigan and Senate President Cullerton and letting them know that you want legislation passed that will allow you to vote on an independent map constitutional amendment. You can find their contact information on the General Assembly website at www.ilga.gov

Also, please go to my website at www.repwehrli.com and add your name to our petition (click the button at the top of the right hand column) to help us remove partisan politics from the legislative map-drawing process.

—Grant Wehrli


Editor’s Note / BTW, this past week PN has received numerous requests from independent government watch groups and legislators to sign petitions to pass legislation for an independent map constitutional amendment, a  type of initiative that needs individual interest and understanding. Reply ASAP to help get House Resolution 995 (Click here to see text.) passed.

“We must put an end to gerrymandering, which allows partisan politicians to draw maps that protect themselves and all but guarantee a continuation of majority status,” said State Representative David S. Olsen (R-Downers Grove) who has joined Wehrli in support of House Resolution 995.

 

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Grant Wehrli
Grant Wehrli
Grant Wehrli is a lifelong Naperville Resident and former Representative in the Illinois House of Representatives and Naperville City Councilman.

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