Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated an eye-popping $500,000 to Yes! For Independent Maps, the group running a petition drive to put on the November ballot a proposed “Illinois Independent Redistricting Amendment” to change the system for drawing the boundaries for the Illinois legislative districts. The jumbo donation from Bloomberg is the largest the group so far has received. My Sunday column and video on the Yes! group is HERE.
If the Yes! petition drive succeeds, voters in November will be asked if they want to replace mapmaking lawmakers with a “restructured, independent redistricting commission” to draw the lines.
Getting a question on the November ballot requires at least 298,400 signatures of registered Illinois voters on petitions by the May 5 deadline. Yes! plans to announce a signature count on Tuesday.
