What Constitution Amendment am I voting on?
Wait a minute….what are we voting on ?
The voters of Illinois may have not known what they were voting on, when they voted for a “Constitution Amendment” to the Illinois Constitution last November.
The Illinois Freedom Alliance has stepped up to question the process of the vote in that election. The Illinois Freedom Alliance felt the voters of Illinois did not get a fair and equal election and want to correct that. On January 4th 2023 IFA filed a petition with the courts to request a do over of the contest for the Proposed Constitution Amendment.
Case # 23 MR 00000005 was filed in the Circuit Court of the 19th Judicial Circuit in Lake County Illinois – a petition to decertify the election contest of the Proposed Constitution Amendment.
Their Petition to contest the election was 3 fold - these were the major issues.
1. The Voters of Illinois did not have equal access to the Proposed Constitution Amendment text, as it was not on the ballot for the voters to read before casting a vote on November 8th, 2022.
2. All voters across the State of Illinois did not receive equal notice from the counties that the question of the Proposed Constitution Amendment was to be on a ballot for the voters to adopt or reject at the November 8th 2022.
3. The Illinois Constitution calls out in ARTICLE XIV SECTION 2 (b) the following: The vote on the proposed amendment or amendments shall be on a separate ballot. The ballots were not labeled “Constitution Ballot” nor labeled the same on the ballots presented to all voters.
Issue 1 was that the text of the proposed Constitution Amendment WAS NOT on the ballot. This is the text as proposed by the Illinois Legislation:
ARTICLE I BILL OF RIGHTS SECTION 25. WORKERS' RIGHTS
(a) Employees shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work. No law shall be passed that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and work place safety, including any law or ordinance that prohibits the execution or application of agreements between employers and labor organizations that represent employees requiring membership in an organization as a condition of employment.
(b) The provisions of this Section are controlling over those of Section 6 of Article VII.
No where on the ballot was the text of the amendment. Check it out your self.
The voters were only able to vote YES or NO on the yellow high lighted area.
Worse.... The Illinois Legislation changed the law on publication of information on the Proposed Constitution Amendment. In April of 2022 they decided to NOT send out a pamphlet to all households. Instead they changed the law and only sent out a "Post Card". The post card had a URL for people to go to and view the text.
But the text was not there.
Issue number 2. All voters across the State of Illinois did not receive equal notice from the counties that the question of the Proposed Constitution Amendment was to be on a ballot for the voters to adopt or reject at the November 8th 2022. The Counties are required to put out a special notice that there will be a Constitution Proposed Amendment on the ballot 30 days before the election. The majority of the 102 counties did not publish a proper notice. Some counties did not publish the notice at all.
Even if the Counties had published a notice 30 days before the election, there were many voters who voted in the early voting window that started 40 days before the election.
Issue 3. The Illinois Constitution calls out in ARTICLE XIV SECTION 2 (b) the following: The vote on the proposed amendment or amendments shall be on a separate ballot. The ballots were not labeled “Constitution Ballot” nor labeled the same on the ballots presented to all voters.
Not one ballot in the state of Illinois showed the proper ballot label of " Constitution Ballot". Many counties labeled the ballot "State”, “State of Illinois”, “State Proposition”, "Proposed Constitution Amendment", “State of Illinois ESTADO DE ILLINOIS”, or “Constitution Amendment”. None labeled the ballot as a "Constitution Ballot".
Here is a look at a ballot that may have been confusing to the voters
as there was no "Constitution Ballot" presented to them.
Illinois Freedom Alliance in the Lawsuit is not asking for a lot.. They are asking for a fair and equal election to be done by the state. The Lawsuit 23 MR 00000005 is petitioning the court for the following:
Wherefore, we Petitioners pray that this court:
- Finds that the voters of Illinois were not given equal access to the information needed to understand the Proposed Constitution Amendment prior to voting on it.
- Finds that the voters of Illinois were not presented a proper ballot and that the ballots that were presented were not the same for all voters.
- Enter an order that the Constitution Ballot contest be decertified and considered null and void.
- Order a new Constitution Ballot question to be placed on the ballot at the next available election as required by the Illinois Constitution.
- That such election be conducted to ensure equal distribution of the text, arguments for and against, and the explanation for the Proposed Amendment be distributed equally and fairly to all qualified voters of Illinois.
We have to thank to fine people of Illinois Freedom Alliance for looking out for the Voters of Illinois. It is hoped that they will get a judgement that will benefit the Illinois voters and allow them to have a fair and equal election on the Proposed Constitution Amendment in the future.
Voting is their right, and the State needs to inform them of what they are voting for or against. Hopefully in the next election the State and counties of Illinois will get the information out to the voters properly and present them with a "Constitution Ballot" as required by Illinois Law.
For more information on the lawsuit you can contact Illinois Freedom Alliance here:
