State Representative Steve Reick (R-Woodstock) has posted an online petition for those who oppose gerrymandered legislative maps and support a fair maps process.
“There is overwhelming bipartisan support for fair maps in Illinois,” said Reick. “Adopting a fair maps system could very well be the most important thing we could do as lawmakers to restore integrity and true democracy to our election process. According to a Paul Simon Institute poll, 72% of Illinoisans support fair maps, and as a legislator I am committed to doing everything I can to make fair maps a reality.”
Reick is co-sponsoring two measures this year that seek to take the legislative map-drawing process out of the hands of politicians and ensure a fair and transparent method for creating legislative districts and maps. HJRCA 46 would provide for the creation of an independent legislative redistricting commission, which would lead a detailed review process of maps submitted by any Illinoisan who would wish to suggest a map. The commission would provide the public with necessary data and tools with which to create map proposals. A multi-faceted scoring rubric would be used to rank all submissions with higher scores generated by maps that keep municipalities and counties together and which are compact in nature. The three highest-scoring maps would be brought to the House and Senate, where a three-fifths majority vote would be required for passage of one of the three maps. In the event that consensus is not reached, the highest-scoring map would be certified by the Secretary of State and become law.
He is also co-sponsoring HR 995, which expresses support for independent redistricting reform and advocates for a non-partisan map-making process for the upcoming redistricting cycle. Both proposals would apply to redistricting beginning in 2021 for the elections to be held in 2022.
Click here to sign the fair maps petition.