Center for Voting and Democracy

Illinois' Drive to Revive
Cumulative Voting

Illinois Report Highlights Benefit of Full Representation -- July 2001

In 1999 the Institute for Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) at the University of Illinois received a major grant to conduct a study of the impact of the state's conversion from cumulative voting to single-member districts in 1980. The IGPA formed a task force to analyze different electoral systems and make recommendations. Co-chaired by former Republican governor Jim Edgar and former Democratic Congressman and federal judge Abner Mikva, the task force members included leading state legislators and civic leaders.

The task force has called for reviving cumulative voting, and the Institute for Government and Public Affairs has issued an excellent report about their deliberations and the history of cumulative voting in the state. The Illinois story is a testimony to the impact of even very modest full representation plans. In this case, it still required close to 25% of the vote to win a seat in a in three-seat district, but this change was significant for a broader range of political forces to participate in elections, win representation and contribute to good policy-making.

Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois: A summary of the report released July 9 by the 'Illinois Task Force on Political Representation and Alternative Electoral Systems' entitled "Illinois should return to cumulative voting."
The complete findings of the Illinois Assembly on Political Representation and Alternative Electoral Systems are available in Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) format:
Executive Summary Report (1 meg, about 3 minutes on a 56k modem)
Final Report and Background Papers (1.5 meg, about 5 minutes on a 56k modem)

Recent Developments in Illinois Reform:

Read the Midwest Democracy Center's recent e-mail newsletter updates

News Coverage:

WMAQ-TV (Chicago) transcript in which Dick Kay, an NBC political commentator, called for a return to cumulative voting. July 22, 2001
Chicago Sun-Times: "Let's bring back old way of voting." Editorial, July 16.
Northwest Leader: "UIC poll explores voter participation, election standards." By Dirk C. Archer, July 11.
Chicago Sun-Times: "A Commonsense Plan to Revive Legislature." By Steve Neal, July 11.
The Daily Herald: "Group wants return to 'cumulative voting'." From the Associated Press, July 10.
Chicago Tribune : "New legislature reform push." By Christi Parsons, July 8.
Springfield Journal-Register: "A vote for cumulative voting: Task force backs system used to elect House members ended by 1980 Cutback Amendment." By Bernard Schoenburg, July 8.
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette: "State House change deserves a look." April 26, 2001

Related Articles and Pages:

The Center for Voting and Democracy's report on Black Representation Under Cumulative Voting in IL.
An article printed in the Southern Regional Council's publication Southern Changes about winning fair representation with alternative voting systems printed in October of 2000 and written by the Center for Voting and Democracy's Executive Director Robert Richie.
Cumulative voting was used to elect Amarillo's school board for the first time on May 6, 2000. Check out our Amarillo, Texas page for more information about the adoption of this system and its impact on representation and turnout.

Links:

The Midwest Democracy Center is a local partner of the Center for Voting and Democracy, located in Chicago, Illinois.
Join the Drive to Revive Cumulative Voting listserv.

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