Editorial: Amendment could change face of Illinois government

When it comes to Illinois government, we all know there is much to complain about. There'll be one less thing, though, if a measure to change how legislative districts are drawn gets on the ballot and passes.

The Independent Map Amendment would change a system that welcomes partisan power brokers to draw legislative district boundaries that enhance their strength into a system requiring boundaries that ensure citizens have choices to select leaders who truly represent their interests and values.

Not sure of the need for such a comprehensive constitutional change? Consider these numbers: In the primaries just completed, only two of the 39 Democratic Senate incumbents faced challenges. Likewise only two of 20 Republican candidates were challenged. Just nine of the 71 Democratic incumbents faced a challenge in the House. Of the 47 House Republican incumbents, there were four challenges.

In short, if you like the Illinois government you have, we have a system for drawing legislative boundaries that should make you ecstatic. But if you don't. If you want vibrant political debate in elections and primaries that matter, you want to study the Independent Map Amendment.

On Friday, supporters delivered to the state Board of Elections petitions containing more than 570,000 signatures calling for a vote in November on the new constitutional amendment. It's nearly twice the 290,216 signatures required to force the issue onto the ballot, but organizers know they may need every name.

That's because the powerful status quo has clearly demonstrated its willingness and intent to do whatever it can to keep this reasonable - indeed, commendable - plan away from the state's voters. A similar effort in 2014 stalled when election officials declared that less than half the signatures from a 5 percent sample were valid, and ended altogether when a Cook County judge ruled that certain aspects of the proposal did not meet the conditions permitting the state constitution to be changed.

Organizers of this new drive have adapted the proposal to respond to the judge's concerns and redoubled their efforts to ensure that the petition signatures collected represent registered voters. But opponents are sure to mount aggressive challenges in court, before state regulators and in the public, using every tool at their disposal to maintain a system that has permitted virtual one-party rule in the Illinois legislature for two decades and could entrench it still further if there's no change before the next census in 2020. Already their efforts include a ridiculous initiative calling itself the "People's Map," even though it offers no redistricting proposal whatsoever and declares its sole purpose to be to "support or oppose referenda regarding redistricting."

That movement is a pathetic embodiment of the very political charade the Independent Map Amendment aims to combat. If you value choice in candidates for state leadership - and you want voters, not powerful elite polticians - to define those choices, you'll pay close attention as the drive to pass the Independent Map Amendment proceeds.

You'll find a process that demands complete and unrestricted transparency, defies political partisanship, guarantees the influence of minorities and assures equality for geographic interests. Indeed, it won't merely be one less thing to complain about in the way Illinois operates. It will be something to be proud of.