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Redistricting moves fast and usually arrives buried in jargon. News You Can Use cuts through the noise in plain language: what is happening, why it matters, and what you can do. Read a sample of each edition below.

For lawmakers & staff

News You Can Use: Capitol Edition

Built to be a trusted source on redistricting at the statehouse: clear, sourced, and free of spin, so the people who can act always know where reform stands.

News You Can Use: Capitol Edition · Issue No. 1

Where fair-map reform stands this month

Fair Maps America · June 2026
TL;DR: Public support for independent redistricting is broad and bipartisan. Two practical reforms are ready for committee. We are asking for a 15-minute briefing with your office.

1 · The 30-second context

After each Census, district lines are redrawn, and the shape of those lines quietly sets the stage for a decade. When a district is drawn without competition, the primary becomes the real election, and roughly seven of every eight voters never take part in it. Reform is not about any party. It is about voters, in every district, deciding elections. With the 2030 cycle approaching (and Illinois’ own 2028 decision sooner), the groundwork laid now determines the options later.

2 · Three things moving

  • Transparency standards: requiring public map data, comment periods, and published criteria before adoption.
  • Independent or advisory commissions: models already working in several states, adaptable to ours.
  • Anti-gerrymandering criteria: compactness, respect for communities of interest, and a ban on favoring incumbents.

3 · What your constituents are saying

Across party lines, voters consistently say they want competitive, community-based districts. We can share district-level interest data from our citizen coalition for your area on request.

The ask

A short, no-pressure briefing of 15 minutes, in person or virtual. We will bring one page of facts, no spin. Reply to this email or reach us at hello@fma.vote.

Sources available on request · Fair Maps America does not support or oppose any candidate or party. This is a sample template; add current bill numbers and your district’s interest data before sending.

For citizens

News You Can Use

How we turn informed readers into a coalition of changemakers: a trusted, plain-English source on fair maps, and the next step you can take to help.

News You Can Use · Your monthly fair-maps update

Gerrymandering, explained in 2 minutes 🗺

Fair Maps America · June 2026

Hi friend 👋 welcome to the very first issue of News You Can Use. Every month we will keep it short: one thing to understand, one thing to celebrate, and one thing you can do in five minutes. Let’s go.

🧠 Understand: what is gerrymandering?

Imagine your neighborhood divided so that the outcome is settled before anyone votes. That is gerrymandering: drawing district lines (sometimes into shapes that look like dangling earrings or wandering ribbons) to “crack” communities apart or “pack” them together until the result is settled early. It happens wherever people draw the lines. The fix is simple to say and worth working for: voters should pick their leaders, not the other way around.

🎉 Celebrate: a community win

This month, [Town/Group] hosted a packed forum on fair maps, proof that people do care when you give them a clear, welcoming way in. That is exactly the energy we are building toward 2028 and 2030.

✅ Your 5-minute action

  • Forward this email to one person who cares about fairness.
  • Check that your voter registration is current (link inside).
  • Reply and tell us: what is your district like?

That is it. See you next month. Thanks for caring about how this all works. It matters more than people think. 💙💛

Sample template; swap the bracketed bits for real wins and links before sending. You are receiving this because you joined the Fair Maps America coalition. Unsubscribe anytime, no hard feelings.

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