Peoria Standard

State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) shared his support last week of the Voter Empowerment Project, a package of legislative measure that its sponsors say will empower voters.

One of the measures aims to create an independent redistricting commission to avoid partisan districting issues. The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and the most senior Supreme Court justice of the opposite political party would select a total of 17 commissioners to serve on the board, according to the Illinois General Assembly website.

“People are incredibly cynical and distrustful of state government right now, and for good reason. They repeatedly witnessed efforts to dilute and minimize their power as voters, including partisan maps drawn to maximize the political power of one party and protect political insiders. They’ve had enough,” said  Barickman in a press release. “We need to restore the power and the role of voters in their democracy. These bills are designed to give people a stronger say in how their government operates and who represents them at the Capitol.”  

Under the amendment, voters would also have the ability to approve changes to the state constitution via the initiative process, and be given wider latitude in recalling elected officials. 

“Redistricting reform will make sure that people are able to pick their representatives instead of entrenched politicians picking their voters," Barickman continued. "Recall provisions will make sure that politicians are accountable to the voters, and that bad actors can be removed from office. We also propose to allow the voters themselves to have a say in what laws are passed and to be able to make changes to the state constitution. Democracy is supposed to be a system of self-government, these bills will make sure that is the case once again.”