Your vote has little sway in some Illinois elections because district lines are drawn with a political bias.

Under law, the Illinois General Assembly is responsible for the redistricting process after each federal decennial census. I think it’s time for the General Assembly to stop drawing lines to manipulate the voting game.

“Redistricting refers to the process of redefining the political geographic boundaries including representative districts, senate districts and congressional districts,” according to the Illinois House Democrats’ website.

While it may make sense to charge our esteemed representatives with such an important task, a major issue comes into play under this system: political gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering is defined as the process of dividing a state into election districts to give special advantages to one group. In truth, this form of political power-grabbing is so much more. It’s a cancer to democracy, slowly eating away at the power of citizens by allowing career politicians to choose their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives.

Sadly, Illinois is notorious for gerrymandering.

A 2011 Chicago Tribune column cited federal judges calling redistricting “a blatant political move to increase the number of Democratic congressional seats.”

So, why should you care about gerrymandering in our state?

Although there is debate, I think gerrymandering contributes to decreased competition in elections and increased levels of political polarization.

“It’s not the only thing that limits competition … but it is a factor,” said Scot Schraufnagel, assistant political science professor.

He said issues like campaign finance laws and limited third-party opportunities also impede electoral competition.

This lack of competition allows those running for office to take extreme political views — to the left or right — creating polarization which ultimately leads to government ineffectiveness.

Thankfully, you and I may have a chance to end this corrupt practice and restore some power to Illinois’ voters.

Yes for Independent Maps, a campaign hoping to change the redistricting process in Illinois, has been petitioning voters throughout the state to place a redistricting amendment on the November ballot.

The campaign hopes to create an independent, nonpartisan commission that will be responsible for drawing the redistricting maps following the federal census.

While the initiative has come under fire from some, Bradford Bishop, assistant political science professor, praises the campaign.

“I think it is really good that people are concerned about the potential for partisan majorities to draw these lines in ways that don’t necessarily reflect the public good,” Bishop said. “And I think that groups like this are really contributing to democracy in an important way.”

Yes for Independent Maps will announce Thursday whether it has gathered enough votes to place the initiative on the November ballot.

If they are successful, I urge you to educate yourself about gerrymandering in Illinois.

I’m convinced that after some research you will do the right thing and help restore democracy in our state by passing this amendment.