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 "What drives people away from Illinois is the sense that our
political system is broken and our government is unaccountable to
the people. The Illinois system only works for the political
insiders who benefit at the expense of the poor, the vulnerable and
the middle class.
“Today’s court decision to deny Illinoisans the right to vote on a
redistricting referendum does nothing to stem the outflow or change
people’s views of how the system is rigged and corrupt.
“When the General Assembly reconvenes this fall, they should put
political reform - term limits and independent redistricting - at
the top of the legislative agenda so that incumbents aren’t locked
into power and democracy is restored through competitive general
elections.
 “Legislative districts should represent people based upon the
community where they live. Politicians should not pick their voters
by drawing spaghetti-like district lines with the sole intent of
keeping one party in power regardless of how the people vote.
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“Fair maps create fair districts. The system is broken and controlled by career
politicians. People leave when they cannot hold their politicians accountable.
“This is not a partisan idea; this is the people’s idea. Independent
redistricting has strong support from both Republicans and Democrats, including
President Obama, as well as non-partisan, good government groups. More than
500,000 citizens signed the petition to allow the entire state a chance to be
heard on this issue of fairness. It is an affront to our democracy that the
courts struck down yet another citizen-led referendum drive to fix the system
that only benefits the people in power.”
[Office of the Governor Bruce Rauner] |
