May 23 marked the fi rst sign of victory for the controversial Independent Map amendment, which would eliminate the General Assembly’s role in the redistricting process. At least 290,216 petition signatures needed to be submitted to the Illinois State Board of Elections by May 9 in order for the amendment to be considered for the November ballot. After ISBE verifi ed that nearly 73 percent of the total 563,974 petition signatures were valid, a computerized random sample selected 28,199 signatures to be checked in detail by the staff. ISBE ruled that the signatures were valid. Dennis FitzSimons, chair of Independent Maps, a nonpartisan coalition working to change how maps are drawn, believes that the signatures are a clear signal that Illinoisans want legislative redistricting reform. “Now that the petition review process is complete, we can focus on fi ghting the lawsuit fi led by entrenched political interests looking to deny citizens the chance to change the system,” said FitzSimons.