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Chicagoans can vote on term limits, but their votes may not count

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Illinois

* Pat Quinn spent two years gathering tens of thousands of signatures to put a mayoral term limits question on the ballot this year, then went to the trouble of filing a lawsuit, which was tossed out because he didn’t do a very simple thing…

Former governor Pat Quinn’s drive to get a binding referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot imposing a two-term limit on Chicago mayors suffered a setback [last week] when a judge tossed out his lawsuit on a technicality.

Undaunted, Quinn vowed to re-file the lawsuit on Friday; that’s allowed because it was dismissed “without prejudice” after he failed to notify the two objectors.

* But…

It turns out Chicagoans can cast a vote on whether to impose term limits on their mayor after all.

The only catch is that, as the situation currently stands, those votes won’t count.

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners ruled earlier this month that two binding referendum questions advanced by former Gov. Pat Quinn were legally invalid and should not appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

But election officials went ahead and included the referendums on the ballot anyway because of concerns their decision might later be overturned in the courts, a board spokesman said. […]

Although voters will be allowed to vote on the questions, the elections board will not officially report the results unless ordered to do so by the courts, [election board spokesman Jim Allen] said.

Quinn is apparently appealing to the Illinois Supreme Court.

It’d be nice if we could get an unofficial vote count if Quinn loses his appeal. Kinda like a non-binding referendum.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 10:57 am

Comments

It’s nice of Pat Quinn to bring this up as an issue. But, this is an issue that will be handled in the state legislature. I think it’s a good idea but the legislature makes this decision.

Comment by Steve Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 11:09 am
If we are going to have term limits for offices that the public can vote on, then we should have term limits for offices that the public can’t (as in House Speaker and Senate President).

Comment by Just Me Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 11:30 am
But for the fact that it still has his big government “Consumer Advocate” job loaded into it, I figured he would just let it go after Rahm bailed out.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 11:40 am
I don’t know the all the legal ins and outs of referendums in Illinois. But I do have the following reservation about term limits. One man’s political boss is an other’s senior statesperson. I know legislative bodies run better when there are those who know the history and norms of their chambers. On the federal level, Mitch McConnell and el Trumpo are known to be “norm wreckers”. And it’s pretty obvious than when norms get wrecked, wells get poisoned. If your not a big fan of democracy, that’s just great.

Comment by James Knell Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 12:08 pm
Also, for so many people term limits are about Michael Madigan. The guy is 76 years old. Age is a form of term limits unless you are Strom Thurmond. It seems reasonable to think if Rauner and his hostage-taking style go, he might think about doing the same. I do wonder if we did have term limits would we have more people like Pat Quinn, Gary Chico, and Paul Valles who seem to tun for some office every cycle.

Comment by James Knell Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 12:23 pm