A grassroots movement pushing a constitutional amendment for November's ballot turned in more than 570 thousand petition signatures to the Illinois State Board of Elections today.
The group Independent Maps wants to change the state's redistricting laws so an independent commission draws the legislative boundaries ... not the Illinois legislature.
Dennis FitzSimons, who chairs the group, says the current system allows incumbent politicians who want to protect their seats to create the maps.
"Those signatures and petition pages in there are totally indicative of how much Illinois voters want reform and how much they want their votes to count."
Critics of the proposed constitutional amendment say it doesn't go far enough to protect minority voting. They also say an independent commission won't be accountable to voters.
The state elections board will determine if there are enough valid signatures for the question to make it on the ballot.