Amendment 1 to the Illinois Constitution remains too close to call.
The government union-backed amendment can pass in one of two ways. Either at least 60% of Illinoisans vote “yes” on the ballot question, or more than 50% of all voters in the election approve it.
The New York Times reported 58% of Illinoisans voted in favor of the constitutional amendment based on data from over 95% of counties Nov. 11. That number alone would mean the amendment would fail unless the uncounted ballots give it 60% of the vote on the question, but there is another way it could pass.
The second way for it to pass is to get at least 50% of the total votes cast in the election. That number remains elusive because of those uncounted ballots.
Illinois accepts mail-in ballots for up to two weeks after Election Day if the envelope was postmarked by Nov. 8. That means a final tally could take weeks and it could be that long before voters know whether over 50% of all Illinois voters in the election approved the change to the constitution. All ballots cast must be counted before election officials are able to make that calculation.
Election officials said they expect a smaller share of voters to cast mail ballots than in 2020, reducing reporting times. The number of mail ballots requested but that had not been returned can be tracked here, but was nearly 235,000 early on Nov. 10.
Government workers in Illinois already have the right to unionize and collectively bargain for wages, hours and working conditions. They have some of the strongest labor rights in the nation.
But Amendment 1 would add “economic welfare” and “safety at work” as subjects, which lawmakers haven’t defined and isn’t mentioned in any other state constitution. The definitions and other issues are expected to be decided by the courts, but could take years to litigate.
More here.
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