Full Text of HJR0143 95th General Assembly
HJ0143 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The proposed wording of the statewide referendum | 3 |
| on whether to call a constitutional convention, set to appear | 4 |
| on the November 4, 2008 General Election ballot, contains an | 5 |
| inappropriately biased "explanation of proposed call" | 6 |
| paragraph, which, among other things, informs voters that the | 7 |
| 1988 constitutional convention referendum was defeated by a | 8 |
| margin of 75% to 25%; and
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| WHEREAS, Recounting the results of the 1988 referendum, | 10 |
| apart from being irrelevant to the consideration of the merits | 11 |
| of this year's question, violates State and federal | 12 |
| constitutional guarantees of a neutral, fairly-arbitrated | 13 |
| election; and
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| WHEREAS, The abrupt insertion of this fact, out of its | 15 |
| historical context, amounts to a subtle and derogatory argument | 16 |
| against the affirmative case for the calling of a convention; | 17 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, In addition to containing an impermissibly | 19 |
| prejudicial statement, the entire "explanation of proposed | 20 |
| call" paragraph is illegally appended to the constitutional | 21 |
| convention referendum question in blatant defiance of the | 22 |
| express command of Section 16-6 of the Election Code; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois voters have the right, under the federal | 2 |
| Constitution, and the existing State constitution, to have free | 3 |
| and fair elections, devoid of misleading and superfluous ballot | 4 |
| language which, under the guise of educating voters, in fact | 5 |
| expresses the biases and preferences of political elites;
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| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 9 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the proposed ballot question | 10 |
| wording for the constitutional convention referendum is, | 11 |
| unconstitutional on its face, violative of State statute, and | 12 |
| therefore unacceptable; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That House Joint Resolution 137 notwithstanding, | 14 |
| the question of whether to call a constitutional convention | 15 |
| required by Article XIV of the Illinois Constitution to appear | 16 |
| on the November 4, 2008 general election ballot should be | 17 |
| reworded, and all ballots altered accordingly, to conform to | 18 |
| the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of | 19 |
| the State of Illinois, as well as the laws of the State of | 20 |
| Illinois, particularly Section 16-6 of the Election Code, such | 21 |
| that voters are presented with the following question: |
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| YES For the calling
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| ---------- of a Constitutional
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| NO Convention.
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