27 Illinois Counties Pass Referendums to Explore Secession From State

Voters in 27 Illinois counties have passed non-binding referendums urging elected officials to participate in conversations focused on ending ties with the state.

Communities across the state are tired of being held hostage by Democrat-controlled Cook County (the second-most populous county in the country that contains Chicago).

More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County.

However, millions of residents who live outside of Cook County are left voiceless each election cycle.

Outside of Cook County, the majority of Illinois leans conservative.

*Screenshot from The Chicago Tribune showing geographic voting areas in the 2016 presidential election*

New Illinois is a nonprofit organization seeking the creation of a new state.

New Illinois is a nonprofit organization that educates Illinois citizens about their right to pursue the creation of new state from the State of Illinois. We are seeking a state split, following the process provided in the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Sec. 3). This is the same way that West Virginia split from Virginia.

New Illinois is a nonpartisan, educational nonprofit. We are addressing a longstanding divide in the State of Illinois. This divide is not between Democrats and Republicans—it is urban vs. rural, small town and suburban. We are two very different places, both culturally and economically. Legislation and policies addressing the needs and best interests of a major urban area like Chicago/Cook County are not necessarily in the best interests of the rest of the state.

The issues New Illinois focuses on are representative government, government corruption, and our state’s fiscal catastrophe.

27 Counties in Illinois Have Passed Referendums to Explore Seceding From State. Here's Where https://t.co/CaAPnJ3Lph

— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) November 11, 2022

NBC Chicago reported:

On Election Day in Illinois, ballots contained statewide questions ranging from whether or not to amend the state’s constitution, to who should be the next Governor of Illinois, to who should sit on the Illinois State Supreme Court.

But some local ballots contained questions about whether to leave the state altogether.

Tuesday, two Illinois counties and a portion of another passed non-binding referendums that would encourage their elected officials to engage in discussions about potentially severing ties with the state government.

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The votes were hardly a new phenomenon. Instead, they join a growing list of Illinois counties seeking to express their displeasure with lawmakers.

Previously, at least 24 counties had passed so-called “separation referendums,” according to reporting by Illinois Public Media. The three new additions to that list, Brown, Hardin, and the northeastern portion of Madison County, would bring that number to 27, representing more than 25% of the state’s 102 counties.

According to IPM, 23 counties had previously passed separation referendums after the 2020 elections, including Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Hancock, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Massac, Moultrie, Pope, Richland, Shelby, Wabash, Wayne and Whiteside.

Edgar County also passed a similar referendum in 2021, according to the group Red State Secession.

Most of those counties passed the non-binding referendums with large majorities, including 72% of voters in Bond County and 60.7% of voters in Christian County.

In this year’s election, the ballot questions, all of which had similar wording, appeared in Brown and Hardin counties, as well as a portion of Madison County.