Diverse Coalition Supporting The Independent Map Amendment Asks Court "Let The People Have Their Vote"

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., July 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A diverse coalition of two dozen business, consumer and public interest organizations has urged the Illinois Supreme Court "to allow democracy to prevail and to let the people have their vote" on the Independent Map Amendment in the November election.

Signed by organizations "representing virtually every conceivable constituency and virtually every conceivable spot on the political spectrum," the organizations in the coalition "are united in their concern for the future of Illinois and their support for a ballot initiative that will allow the people of Illinois to have a meaningful voice in shaping that future," according to the "friend of the court" (amicus curiae) brief.

Signers of the Friend of the Court Brief

• League of Women Voters of Illinois
• Small Business Advocacy Council
• CHANGE Illinois
• Illinois Campaign for Political Reform
• Rockford Chamber of Commerce
• McCormick Foundation
• Champaign County Chamber of Commerce
• Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI)
• Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• Latino Policy Forum
• Illinois Public Interest Research Group
• West Rogers Park Community Organization
• Metropolitan Planning Council
• Better Government Association
• Chicago Southside Branch NAACP
• Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization
• Union League Club of Chicago
• Illinois Farm Bureau
• Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce
• Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
• Common Cause
• Illinois Chamber of Commerce
• Citizen Advocacy Center
• The Civic Federation
• The Commercial Club of Chicago
• Chicago Embassy Church
• Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

On July 22, the Illinois Supreme Court granted an emergency motion accepting a direct appeal of a Cook County Circuit Court judge's ruling that the Independent Map Amendment does not meet state constitutional requirements for a citizen-initiated amendment.  The Independent Map Amendment would establish an impartial commission to draw legislative district boundaries and require a process that is transparent, impartial and fair.

To read the remainder of the news release and the friend of the court brief, go to www.MapAmendment.org.

Paid for by Support Independent Maps.  A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections is (or will be) available on the Board's official website

(http://www.elections.il.gov) or for purchase from the Illinois State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois.

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SOURCE Independent Maps

Related Links

http://www.mapamendment.org