* From the folks at Independent Maps…

We just completed a week long review of a 5% (28,000) sample of our petitions at the Board of Elections. The verdict is in: our signatures passed with flying colors.

Board of Elections personnel validated 72.7% of the petition signature sample, which is head and shoulders above the 52% validation rate we needed. This is an incredible achievement and it is all thanks to your hard work and support! Thanks also to all the volunteers who came out to help with the review, including a strong contingent from the League of Women Voters. […]

Our next challenge is to defend the Independent Map Amendment in court from the lawsuit filed by entrenched political interests challenging its constitutionality.

…Adding… More details in the press release I just found in my inbox…

A state review of Independent Map Amendment petitions indicates the submitted petitions likely contain more than the minimum 290,216 valid signatures of registered voters required to place the proposed redistricting reform constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

On Monday, the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) staff completed the signature verification examination of a random sample of Independent Map Amendment petition signatures, and the ISBE review projected that nearly 73 percent of the 563,974 petition signatures appear to be genuine and match the signature of a registered voter living at the address printed on the petition. The staff checked 28,199 signatures selected at random by computerized sampling of 5 percent of petition signatures.

The sampling indicates a minimum of 382,355 and a maximum of 395,021 valid signatures were submitted to the state – well in excess of the 290,216 signatures required by law to place the amendment on the ballot. […]

Independent Maps staffers and volunteers were also impressed by the efficiency and professionalism of the Board of Elections employees.