Referendum rejected
Referendum rejected
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
The Illinois State Board of Elections ruled last week that a referendum on an amendment to the Illinois Constitution to outlaw gay and lesbian marriage won’t be on the November ballot because proponents didn’t submit petitions containing enough valid signatures.
The board made the determination after conducting a random check of petitions submitted May 8 by Protect Marriage Illinois, an offshoot of the anti-gay Illinois Family Institute. The PMI petitions contained more than 347,000 signatures supporting the referendum, but SBE officials immediately rejected about 10,000 of them.
In late May, SBE staff conducted a random check to determine if enough of the remaining 337,000 signatures were from registered Illinois voters to meet the requirement that referendums be supported by at least 283,111 voters.
Late last week, the SBE notified both PMI and the Fair Illinois Committee that its random check found far too many irregularities and invalid signatures on PMI’s petitions for the referendum to make it to the ballot.
PMI is expected to appeal that finding, but the board’s decision is bolstered by petition challenges filed June 26 by Fair Illinois, a coalition formed by Equality Illinois, PFLAG, the Gay Liberation Network, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and others to fight the referendum effort.
Fair Illinois volunteers scrutinized every signature submitted by PMI, and the coalition’s leaders said they found tens of thousands of signatures that should be disqualified because they don’t represent registered voters or are improper for other reasons.
The referendum would have been advisory, urging the Illinois Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing recognition of marriages and other unions except those between a man and a woman. The Legislature has repeatedly refused to pass such an amendment in recent years. Illinois law already bars gays and lesbians from getting married in the state.
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
The Illinois State Board of Elections ruled last week that a referendum on an amendment to the Illinois Constitution to outlaw gay and lesbian marriage won’t be on the November ballot because proponents didn’t submit petitions containing enough valid signatures.
The board made the determination after conducting a random check of petitions submitted May 8 by Protect Marriage Illinois, an offshoot of the anti-gay Illinois Family Institute. The PMI petitions contained more than 347,000 signatures supporting the referendum, but SBE officials immediately rejected about 10,000 of them.
In late May, SBE staff conducted a random check to determine if enough of the remaining 337,000 signatures were from registered Illinois voters to meet the requirement that referendums be supported by at least 283,111 voters.
Late last week, the SBE notified both PMI and the Fair Illinois Committee that its random check found far too many irregularities and invalid signatures on PMI’s petitions for the referendum to make it to the ballot.
PMI is expected to appeal that finding, but the board’s decision is bolstered by petition challenges filed June 26 by Fair Illinois, a coalition formed by Equality Illinois, PFLAG, the Gay Liberation Network, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and others to fight the referendum effort.
Fair Illinois volunteers scrutinized every signature submitted by PMI, and the coalition’s leaders said they found tens of thousands of signatures that should be disqualified because they don’t represent registered voters or are improper for other reasons.
The referendum would have been advisory, urging the Illinois Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing recognition of marriages and other unions except those between a man and a woman. The Legislature has repeatedly refused to pass such an amendment in recent years. Illinois law already bars gays and lesbians from getting married in the state.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 2:37 PM
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