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Special con-con notice thread
Tuesday, Nov 4, 2008 If you voted today and were not handed a notice about the change in the ballot langue for the consitutional convention referendum, please download and fill out this form and then fax it to the Chicago Bar Association at (312) 554-2054, or e-mail it to them at: Also, the lieutenant governor’s [campaign] office has requested that if you were not given the official notice, please disclose your polling place, approximate time of voting, etc. in comments on this thread. Thanks.
- Posted by Rich Miller
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- anon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:15 am:
What if it was only posted and not necessarily handed to you.
- Glam-Or-Party - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:22 am:
No offense Rich but that doesn’t really sound like a duty of the Lt. Gov.’s office
- taxmandan - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:23 am:
I voted at 8:30am in Downers Grove at the Methodist church on Maple Ave. I recieved no handout on the con-con. I didn’t even know I was supposed to get anything until I read the CapitolFax this morning.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:23 am:
Oak Park #57, Longfellow Fieldhouse, 10 a.m. Stack of blue sheets on table, not referenced by judges.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:23 am:
So, is Cap Fax Blog now the repository for evidence in Lt. Governor Quinn’s lawsuit? Since we don’t use our real names here, it’s going to be somewhat difficult to verify whether or not someone got the Blue Sheet or not…
- Question for you - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:25 am:
Can the Lt Gov’a office legally work on the Con Con issue. Aren’t they state employees?? State employees working on political issue???
- Little Egypt - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:28 am:
Judges mentioned Con-Con and also multiple blue sheets were in my booth.
- Captain Flume - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:30 am:
I do not think the Lt. Gov. office should be asking this blog to post that info. It really 1) is not his job, and 2) has no proveable veracity.
- Anon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:30 am:
Could not distributing the notices be a basis for a lawsuit for a special Con-Con election?
- Illini Lurker - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:30 am:
Arlington Heights, Precinct 82 (Wheeling township) at 6:30ish AM.
Stacks of the blue sheets were on the table, but not referenced by the judges at all, and they were still rubber banded together. There was no posting that I saw, including in the voting booth.
- Jaded - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:32 am:
A kindly old lady at my polling place handed me the blue sheet and suggested that I read the whole thing before completing my ballot.
Then she told me that I was a complete idiot if I voted in favor of a con con, that she was a retired teacher, and if she found out I voted in favor of the con con she would hunt me down and break my legs.
Maybe after Governor Light gets done counting his daily allotment of paper clips, he could go give her a good stern talking to.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:33 am:
It was the LG’s campaign office. Wrote too fast. Will update.
Take a breath, people.
- ConCon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:36 am:
Just to clarify the above posts, this matter is being handled by the Lt. Governors political office not the state office.
- Perry Mason - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:37 am:
How can a decision by a district court level judge in cook county be binding on election jurisdications outside of cook county? Did the State Board of Elections issue a mandate to local election officials, if not, I don’t see why the authorities would be required to produce anything.
- S. Illinois - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:38 am:
7:10 a.m. St. Clair Co. #15 at First Church of the Nazarene in Belleville. I was not given any notice nor was a notice posted in the voting booth. I did not notice anything on the judges table.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:39 am:
Question: How many jurisdictions were able to get the corrected ballot language printed, thus negating the need for a separate handout or signs at the voting place? I must admit, I did not get a sign or handout, but I also did not read the ballot question in its entirety before I voted.
- South of I-80 - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:39 am:
When I voted this morning, the judges offered me a copy of the notice, but also said that the notice was inside the booth as well.
- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:41 am:
Did not receive or see a notice. 7:25 a.m., Orland Township Precinct 2.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:42 am:
If enough jurisdictions had a “corrected” ballot, and the measure fails, a court would then need to decide if the errors in voting places with “uncorrected” ballots caused significant harm to the process that the only cure would be a new election. What say ye, attorneys of the law?
- soccermom - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:45 am:
I was appalled by the biased language on the ballot.
- Captain Flume - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:46 am:
From the other thread: I did not see, nor was I offered, any con-con information. The question was on the ballot (Springfield).
Gee, ballot/voting irregularities in Illinois???!!! Whodathunkit. C’mon, this is prank, right?
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:46 am:
So much for the AG’s office dispatching all of her people to prevent fraud - that’s what this is, right? To some extent it has to be…
- GM - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:47 am:
Oak Park, Precinct 41, Gwendolyn Brooks elementary school. I arrived at 5:50, and was in the voting booth at about 6:40. I had forgotten about the corrective language until I came to the recall item. When I asked, someone had to dig a stack of flyers out of a box. When I told the person who produced the flyer for me that I thought all voters were supposed to receive one, he said he wasn’t going to argue with me (I wasn’t being argumentative). When I left, it didn’t look like anyone was making an effort to distribute the flyers.
- Captain Flume - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:48 am:
To clarify, there was a con-con question was on the ballot, but I did not read it. Just voted.
- Boyd of the lakes - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:48 am:
Grayslake Public Library, Precinct 46, no notice, no mention.
- Boyd of the lakes - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:49 am:
Time for above was 11:15a
- muon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:52 am:
As I received the ballot I was informed that a notice was posted in the booth. There was indeed a notice with the revised wording attached to the surface of the booth, though it was mostly covered as soon as I set down my ballot to vote.
- Jessica - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:54 am:
As I mentioned previously, I voted early in Elgin, and was handed the Con-Con paper. The woman handing the papers out was asked what it is and she said “a meeting to decide if state workers’ pensions should change” that would “cost $80 million dollars.”
Prior to that a police officer in line announced loudly to the line (30+ people could hear I estimate) that he wouldn’t tell anyone who to vote for for offices, but he could’t help but say that anyone who has sense should vote “no” on the Con-Con.
- Proud Chicago voter - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:03 pm:
Chicago’s 44th Ward, 36th precinct, approximate voting time of 9 a.m. - I did NOT receive the blue Con-Con sheet. Didn’t even know we were supposed to get one.
- Count Floyd - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:08 pm:
Voted 11:30 A.M., Oak Lawn Precinct 120. Was not handed a flier nor did I seen any. Pro or con con-con Illinois voters should be appalled over how the misleading and flat-out untrue language on the ballot. Democracy is not supposed to operate in this manner.
- Greg - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:10 pm:
Jessica,
I hope you pass a more detailed version of the cop incident along to authorities. Hopefully that’s not typical behavior.
- Collin Hitt - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:11 pm:
No notice was handed to me, when I voted at 8:30 this morning at Butler Elementary School in Springfield. There was, however, a laminated copy of the notice taped to the right wall of my voting booth.
- Rich O - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:15 pm:
DK14 St. Paul’s Episcopal in DeKalb no notice, nothing in the booth, no mention from judges
- Dolly - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:19 pm:
When did you become the mouthpiece for Pat Quinn?
- Saluki Yay-hoo - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:26 pm:
For those who didn’t see any Con-Con notices, call your County Clerk’s office immdiately if you can and let them know. I did and they took care of it right away.
- JohnR - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:35 pm:
Franklin School, Park Ridge, Cook County, at about 8:30 am. I was not given any notice nor was a notice posted in the voting booth. I did not notice anything on the judges table.
- Jessica - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:45 pm:
I voted at Patton School in Arlington Heights around 10:30 this morning. There were no notices passed out or posted about the ConCon.
- anon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 1:13 pm:
I hear that a filing for the attorney disciplinary board will be filed against lisa madigan for failing to uphold a judicial order
- Lefty Lefty - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 1:14 pm:
Geneva precinct 1 at 10am. No blue sheet, no mention of the wording change. Same workers as always too…I can’t think that they were not mentioning it on purpose.
- Pothole - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 1:34 pm:
I voted at 6:25 a.m. at Glencrest Middle School in Glen Ellyn and did not receive a flier. I didn’t notice any thing posted, but I’m not the most observant person - I had my sample ballot already filled out, so I was in and out pretty quick.
- RGA - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 1:35 pm:
I just voted at the KofCs hall on Iles in Springfield Precinct Capitol 15 at 12:30 p.m.
and received nothing about the con-con vote.
- anon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 1:39 pm:
Voted in Downers Grove Township, no notices handed out. Notice was taped to the voting booth. If a voter placed his ballot immediately down to mark it, would have put it over the notice and never even realized it was there.
- b dogg - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 1:57 pm:
Voted in Chicago 19th pct. 25th ward. I was given a blue sheet and gave them a little positive reinforcement, telling them it is good they are handing it out because not everyone is.
- jwscott72 - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:19 pm:
I didn’t get one from the judge but there were signs posted in the voting booth. I didn’t notice any reference to the previous vote total on my ballot, but I honestly didn’t pay much attention to the wording.
- Ken in Aurora - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:27 pm:
Aurora west side, 9:30, no handouts or posted items that I saw and no mention from the judges.
- anon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:35 pm:
rich your bias on this issue is startling and disappointing
- Iain - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:51 pm:
The Con Con was not mentioned to me and I did not receive the additional information. Voted approx. 6:05AM in Avon 33 (Lake County).
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:53 pm:
anon, my bias is clearly labeled.
So, please, bite me.
- Fan of the Game - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:56 pm:
I received my handout and it was posted inside the votingbooth.
Still can’t figure out why a non-vote is considered a “no” vote. That will skew things quite a bit.
- ardisi - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:33 pm:
I voted at 6:25am at High Mount School, St. Clair County, and was not given any info or handout on the con-con. I did not see a notice anywhere in the polling place, although I didn’t look that closely, just filled out my ballot and left.
- Ultra50k - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:45 pm:
I was given a blue handout in Danville and there were plenty left in the booth as well.
- Anon - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:47 pm:
Fondulac precinct 12 in East Peoria. Didn’t get handed anything, but it was posted in the booth.
- Oh well - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:57 pm:
Morris, Ward 2 polling place (downtown firestation), I was not given a flyer though I clearly saw the stack on the desk. Approx 7:45 am. My Mother told me she also was not offered one yet she saw them at her polling place, Morris, Ward 4, about noon. Ditto for one of my uncles, Morris Ward 1 about 10:30 am.
- leigh - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:05 pm:
Oswego precinct 11, very specific instructions to read the wording on the handout before voting on the issue.
- Name for Today - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:24 pm:
If my experience in a western suburb is representative, the con-con has very little chance.
1) The wording on the ballot was not the same as on the online sample ballot from the Cook County Clerk. On the online sample, there was no mention of the previous vote — an overwhelming defeat. This was mentioned on the ballot at the polling location.
2) No one mentioned or handed out any revision of the ballot language. I have no idea if it was posted.
3) Most surprising, the actual ballot said that not voting on this issue is the equivalent of a No vote. (Is this procedure used for any other Yes/No issue?) This also was missing from the County Clerk’s sample ballot.
4) Fortunately, there is a good point of comparison in Cook County. If the countywide referendum regarding the recall process receives significantly more support than the con-con in the county, then it’s a pretty good indication that the unusual features of the con-con issue cost it votes. It will be interesting to see whether there is a disparity and how wide it is.
- Chicago Drummer - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:46 pm:
Given the irregularities with the Con-Con ballot wording and the spotty compliance statewide with the court-ordered requirement to hand out corrected language to voters, you can bet on lawsuits no matter what the outcome.
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:46 pm:
Name For Today - Your 4) is not necessarily true. I voted for the con-con but voted no on the recall referendum. There are numerous reasons outside of a recall measure for a con-con.
- Name for Today - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 5:12 pm:
Mr. Preston — Good point. Still, it will be interesting to compare the two.
Others have pointed out another anomaly — that the con-con was at the very beginning of the ballot, even before the presidential vote. I certainly didn’t expect it there and I doubt that many people did. On the County Clerk’s online sample it was at the end just before the recall question.
I wonder if the odd placement of this question occurred statewide. Again, it will be interesting to see if the number of votes cast on this question seems abnormally low. This would of course benefit opponents if not voting is the equivalent of a No vote.
- 4% - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 5:13 pm:
capitol 53. received the blue sheet and voted NO.
“NO” will get a higher percentage than Barack Obama in IL. Proponents need to just get over it and realize that they ran a poor campaign and are getting creamed. so much for the “vaunted” Mike Noonan/Quinn/Franks team.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 6:08 pm:
I was asked to read the blue sheet by two judges. They were all over the table and in front of each judge. I could have sworn they were all laminated BTW.
- Bookworm - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 6:13 pm:
Capital 89, Springfield. Blue sheet was posted at the election judge’s table (where my registration was checked) and in the voting booth. Both were prominently marked “Please read before voting.” Nobody called my attention to it, but I read it anyway, although I already knew perfectly well what it said.
- Carleenp - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 6:21 pm:
I was not given a notice, but one was posted in my voting booth. My husband was not given one and did not have one in his booth. He did notice one on the wall on the way in.
- Beerman - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 7:47 pm:
It wasnt handed to me but it was laminated and I was instructed to read the “blue” notice.
- Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:03 pm:
I was not handed a notice, a notice was posted in the booth. I was deeply offended by the language on the ballot, and will be faxing in my statement tomorrow after my Obama hangover lifts…
- Riverton, IL - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:45 pm:
I voted at the Riverton, IL
Polling Place: Knights of Columbus Hall
Precinct Clearlake 03
Time about 9:45
Didn’t see or hear anything about the flyers that were supposed to explain the “proper” verbiage.