Press Release
Statement on State Board of Elections Decision on Trump
Leading the January 6 Insurrection Should Have Disqualified Trump from IL ballot
Press
Media Contacts
Kenny Colston
Regional Communications Strategist (Midwest)
kcolston@commoncause.org
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Daily Herald: The Time is Right for Campaign Finance Reform
As a board member of Common Cause Illinois, I am excited that we have an opportunity to give power back to the people through innovative and effective campaign finance reform. Common Cause Illinois is part of a coalition that is working right now to pass a small-donor match program in Evanston.
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Illinois Newsroom: New Congressional Maps Unveiled Ahead of Fall Veto Session
Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois, said in an interview that there was a general feeling of frustration among many advocacy groups that took part in the legislative redistricting process that has carried over into congressional redistricting.
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The Center Square: Nonpartisan Group Calls for the End of Gerrymandering
“What we initially heard was that the General Assembly really wanted to hear from the community,” Young said. “Unfortunately, we found that they heard but didn’t listen.”
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Washington Times Herald: Common Cause Criticizes Redistricting Process in Indiana, Illinois
"They used a different data set, despite the fact that... we were telling them that districts that were drawn with that data would be malapportioned," Young said.
Press Release
Common Cause Illinois calls for continued, urgent focus on ethics reform
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The Mendota Reporter: Democrats pass new legislative maps after a contentious debate
Common Cause Illinois, a political reform advocacy group, issued a statement Monday afternoon saying it would boycott the hearing out of protest for the way in which lawmakers were conducting the redistricting process.
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The Fulcrum: Illinois Democrats slammed for rushing a partisan redistricting plan
Other organizations that called for greater accountability and transparency in the redistricting process included the Latino Policy Forum, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations and Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.
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WTTW: Illinois Democrats Advance New Legislative Districts With Little Public Review
“Since the beginning, we’ve pleaded with lawmakers to keep the redistricting process open, transparent and accessible to no avail,” Young said in a statement. “At each opportunity in this redistricting process, it’s as if lawmakers went out of their way to ensure the creation of these maps had as little public input as possible. Rejecting an independent bipartisan redistricting commission, politicians chose to draw maps themselves. They did so behind closed doors, with a series of hearings attempting to add a veneer of public...
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NBC News: Illinois Democrats set to OK new legislative maps over criticism
Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois, said the maps the Legislature will vote on Tuesday “will not be crafted of public input, but of pure politics.”
Press Release
COMMON CAUSE ILLINOIS BOYCOTTS JOINT REDISTRICTING HEARING IN PROTEST OF UNDEMOCRATIC MAPMAKING PROCESS
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ABC 20: Minority groups call redistricting ‘a farce’ and ‘game of charades’
In a statement, the executive director Jay Young said, “Since the beginning, we’ve pleaded with lawmakers to keep the redistricting process open, transparent, and accessible to no avail. This latest, last-minute hearing provides almost no notice to the public. The new maps have been released less than a day before lawmakers vote on them. It’s shameful, and our organization refuses to add any legitimacy to such an undemocratic process.”
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WBEZ Chicago: Illinois Lawmakers Are Meeting To Redraw District Maps. Some Groups Want More Transparency.
“We are once again witnessing a process that’s unlikely to see much in terms of true community engagement,” Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois, skeptically told lawmakers at a public hearing last week.