Cindi Canary's Letter to Quinn on Redistricting

ICPR's Cindi Canary wrote a letter to governor Pat Quinn urging him to take an active position on the redistricting issue that favors the honest and fair representaion of the voters of Illinois:

"When proposed maps are being considered in the House and Senate, current state law does not require any extraordinary effort be made to allow for public participation.  The map legislation could be approved after only receiving the cursory committee hearing, often with little advance notice, and be rushed to your desk.

Should there be inadequate public involvement, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform urges you to make good use of the 60-day period given to you for consideration of legislation passed by the General Assembly.  Even though not required by law, we hope you will take the maps to every corner of Illinois and give Illinoisans an opportunity to learn more about the proposed new district lines and react to the proposals.  The mapmakers could be invited to explain the maps and tell local voters why they chose those particular district boundaries.  Illinois citizens in all areas of the state could be given sufficient advance notice to attend hearings at convenient times and locations and be given a chance to express their opinions before you take final action."

You can download and read Cindi's entire letter here (PDF).

You can download a sample letter that you can personalize and send to Gov. Quinn here (PDF).