Judge: Ballot language 'misleading'

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois must stop mailing election ballots to members of the military and hold off on sending absentee ballots to everyone else because they contain "misleading and "inaccurate" language, a judge ruled Wednesday. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Nathaniel R. Howse Jr. also ordered the State Board of Elections to draft a notice to voters explaining how information included on the ballot is false. The information deals with a referendum on whether Illinois should hold a constitutional convention. The judge ordered lawyers to return to court Friday to discuss how the notices would be distributed and whether there should be specific ballot changes. The Chicago Bar Association and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Jesse White and the Illinois State Board of Elections. They said the referendum on the state constitutional convention was biased. "We're hoping this is good enough," said Bruno Behrend, an attorney working with the bar association. "We may be able to make it good enough on Friday." But lawyers for Cook County Clerk David Orr, White and the elections board argued that interfering with preparations for the election would put the entire process at risk. "The legal issues cannot be separated from the fact that we have a presidential election 34 days away," said Thomas A. Ioppolo, an assistant attorney general for the state. "We cannot blow up the whole election over this." Officials did not immediately know how many ballots would have to be changed, but nearly 3 million people voted in Illinois in the 2008 primary election, and with native son Barack Obama running for president, participation was expected to be high. If the notices were mailed to an estimated 1.6 million Chicagoans registered to vote in the upcoming election, the cost of postage would be at least $2 million, said Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. The state constitution requires voters to consider the convention question every 20 years. That deadline comes up again Nov. 4. As they are now, ballots state inaccurately that not voting on the referendum amounts to a "no" vote. They also recount that the last constitutional convention referendum, in 1988, failed. Howse found the inclusion of that information inappropriate. A look at disputed language on Illinois ballot On Nov. 4, voters in Illinois will vote on a referendum on whether to call the Seventh Illinois Constitutional Convention. But a group that includes Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn has sued, saying the proposed ballot's language is biased. A judge on Wednesday ruled that Illinois must stop mailing ballots to members of the military and hold off on sending absentee ballots to everyone else because they contain "misleading and "inaccurate" language. The following is the disputed referendum: Notice: The failure to vote on this question is the equivalent of a negative vote. (This is not to be construed as a direction that your vote is required to be cast either in favor of 1 in opposition to the proposition herein contained.) Proposed call for a Constitutional Convention and explanation of proposed call: This proposal deals with a call for a state constitutional convention. The last such convention was held in 1969-70, and a new Constitution was adopted in 1970. The 1970 Illinois Constitution requires that the question of calling a convention be placed before the voters every 20 years. In 1988, the electors rejected the call for a constitutional convention, with 75 percent voting against calling a convention and 25 percent voting in favor of calling a convention. If you believe the 1970 Illinois Constitution needs to be revised through the convention process, vote "YES" on the question of calling a constitutional convention. If you believe that a constitutional convention is not necessary, or that changes can be accomplished through other means, vote "NO" on the calling of a constitutional convention. For the calling of a Constitutional Convention: YES NO Source: Office of Secretary of State Jesse White