Southtown Star: Congress not part of Fair Map Campaign
February 24, 2010
BY PHIL KADNER
A citizens initiative to amend the Illinois Constitution and change the way that legislative districts are drawn would not effect congressional districts.
Apparently, only state Senate and House districts would be impacted.
Naperville Sun: Local reps look to reform redistricting
February 23, 2010
By JENETTE STURGES
Salamander-shaped, politically gerrymandered districts may go the way of the dinosaur in Illinois if two Naperville-area representatives in the Illinois General Assembly have their say.
Republicans Michael Connelly and Darlene Senger spoke Monday morning to the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce to garner support and signatures for the Fair Map Amendment.
Murphysboro American: Republican leaders propose putting redistricting on ballot
Feb 22, 2010
By John Guidroz GateHouse News Service
Murphysboro, Ill. -
Top Republicans in the legislature say it’s time to overhaul the system for setting up lawmakers’ districts – the same system that’s been pretty good to Democrats who now will decide whether the rewrite goes anywhere.
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus: Signatures wanted: Illinois citizens drive to fix finagled Congressional districts
Feb. 22, 2010
By Brandy Donaldson
Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, which includes the quad-Cities area, was designed 10 years ago to elect Democratic candidates to the U.S. Congress, while its neighboring districts, the 18th and 19th, were finagled during redistricting to be Republican.
The 17th zigzags to cover all or part of 21 counties, zigging here to avoid Republican areas and zagging there to include Democrats.
Rockford Register Star: Help state change the way it draws political maps
Feb. 20, 2010
By RRSTAR.COM EDITORIAL
If you looked at a map of Illinois’ legislative districts, you’d wonder, “How the heck did they come up with that?”
The districts look more like a Rorschach test — a bunch of ink blots — than a system of deciding who represents whom. That’s because drawing those maps is done in the interests of the political parties and not in the interests of the public.
You can help change that.
The League of Women Voters of Illinois is championing the Fair Map Amendment, a measure that would change Illinois’ redistricting process. The effort is supported by the Better Government Association, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Farm Bureau and other good-government groups.
