MAPPING AMERICA
One community at a time.
Organized by CHANGE Illinois in IL
We are making it easier for people in communities of interest to be heard and to influence the 2021 remap in Illinois. Next year, elected officials will begin the process of redrawing political maps for federal, state, and local offices. It is critical that people in communities across the state play an active role in the process so that their voices are not unfairly diluted. When communities and groups are splintered, or are packed together, it has the effect of suppressing their power, their voices and their votes. Join us in the “We Draw the Lines” community-mapping drive by creating and submitting your community of interest.
This organization has partnered with Representable to allow people to draw communities of interest and share information about the interests and needs in those communities.
Making this information available encourages mapmakers to take these communities into account during redistricting, in order to avoid gerrymandering and the “packing and cracking” of marginalized groups.
Fair Maps advocates are pushing lawmakers to create an advisory independent redistricting commission that could hold hearings, collect community input, and draw maps to recommend to lawmakers. The proposal would require unprecedented transparency with a series of public hearings and an opportunity for community input before and after maps are proposed. Additionally, the proposal would require committing to writing a compliance report that explains how the proposed maps comply with the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, and the Illinois Voting Rights Act. The changes would also require that lawmakers consider communities of interest as a criterion for remapping along with other fairness criteria ranked in order of priority.
Representable will help you tell the legislative committees, backup commission, or proposed advisory commission about your Community and visualize a map of its boundaries. Then, line-drawers can fairly consider your Community when they draw new voting district lines.
Currently, state legislative districts must be:
In order not to diminish the representation of communities of color and language groups, state legislative maps must follow the requirements set forth in:
In the redistricting process, Illinois doesn't yet require consideration of communities of interest (COIs), but advocates are pushing for changes that would make consideration of COIs a requirement in redistricting. A community of interest is a population that shares cultural, historical, demographic, or economic interests. Communities of interest do not necessarily share the same political viewpoints or support for certain candidates or political parties.