High court needs to step up on maps

The state of Illinois is broke financially and morally. The Democratic political leaders who have been in power for far too long have made it clear to the voters that they are content with the status quo.

With no alternative the citizens of Illinois have taken the initiative to push for independent mapping of voting districts. The fact that judges receive funding from political parties to finance their elections makes it not surprising that a judge ruled the Independent Maps' position that "redistricting in general is structural and procedural" and therefore "fair game" for a citizen initiative; however, in the same ruling, the judge rejected the amendment language that would actually allow citizens to create an independent commission for redistricting. This ruling puts the citizens of Illinois in a straitjacket and makes it impossible for taxpayers to make changes to the legislature that our framers envisioned.

I was one of the than 563,000 Illinois voters who signed a petition for a transparent, fair, and impartial way to draw legislative maps and have contributed to the effort to make the case before Illinois Supreme Court of enforcing the constitution to let voters make this needed change through a citizen-initiated amendment. The Illinois Supreme Court has the chance to restore the democratic rights of Illinois citizens. It has been 22 years since they have ruled on a citizen initiative. It's time for them to step up and allow voters to take back power from Springfield politicians. My personal alternative is to leave the state along with my tax dollars if this amendment is not on the ballot this fall.

Daniel Coombes

Glen Ellyn