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A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections (or will be) available on the Board's website (www.elections.il.gov) or for purchase from the State Board of Elctions, Springfield, Illinois.

 

  

PETITION FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

We the undersigned citizens of Illinois petition to place a question before the voters in the general election to be held on November 6, 2012. A proposal to amend Article IV Section 2(a) and Section 2(b) of the Illinois Constitution by striking the existing language below and replacing it with the underlined language below:

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION
(a) One Senator and two Representatives shall be elected from each Legislative District for a term of two years. The 59 Legislative Districts shall be distributed substantially equally over the State.
(b) Primary electors shall select only one political party ballot in a primary election. Primary election ballots shall be cast by secret ballot so that a person’s party affiliation remains private. Each political party shall nominate in a primary election no more than 2 legislative candidates selected by electors of the same political party. Cumulative voting will determine the election of Senator as the person who receives the most votes in the General Election, with the 2 Representatives being determined by the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. General electors may vote for no more than three candidates. No person may serve more than 6 terms in the General Assembly.

This petition restores the system of cumulative voting that made Illinois government unique; establishes an open primary that keeps a person’s party affiliation private; and limits the number of terms that a law maker may serve to no more than 12 years.

Cumulative voting existed in Illinois since 1870, but was repealed with the 1980 cutback amendment which reduced the number of legislators by a third. The Chicago Tribune in 1995 ran an editorial calling for the return of cumulative voting stating, “Many partisans and political independents have looked back wistfully at the era of cumulative voting. They acknowledge that it has produced some of the best and the brightest in Illinois politics”.

The secret ballot is a right that should be enjoyed by all citizens of Illinois, that includes the right to keep party affiliation secret. The current primary system of having to declare party affiliation is a relic of the patronage system that has been outlawed in this country.

The practice of patronage was outlawed in 1990 by the US Supreme Court in the case of Cynthia Rutan, a Springfield state worker who was discriminated in promotions because of her party affiliation. The Court held that Rutan’s First Amendment rights had been violated by the patronage system operated by the Republican Party. See Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois (1990) 497 U.S. 62. hyperlink to http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/88-1872.ZO.html

Amendments to the Illinois Constitution may be proposed by petition, but is “limited to structural and procedural subjects” contained in the article that pertains to the legislature. The 1970 Constitutional Convention gave the people the power to reform the legislature. The framers of our Illinois Constitution recognized that there are some reforms that require the will of the people to prevail when the legislature is unwilling.

In April of 2009, the state Senate voted 37-17 against Senate Bill 1666 sponsored by Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield. In 2010 Gov. Pat Quinn used his amendatory veto authority to insert open primary language into a bill pertaining to elections that was sent to his desk for signature. However, the legislature allowed the bill to die during the fall veto session.

According to the State Board of Elections 298,400 valid signatures will be required to place the question on the general election ballot. Petitions must be filed six (6) months before the Nov. 6, 2012 general election.

Add your name to the list of citizens, candidates and organizations that are helping to circulate petitions to place this question before the voters.