This is great news.  I've always thought that if we were to move away 
from the tyranny of the winner-take-all system, it would have to begin 
slowly and at the local level. 

Dan, please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Johnson-Weinberger" <proportionalrepresentation@msn.com>
Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 4:10 pm
Subject: Illinois election legislation

I think this is on-topic.

The Illinois General Assembly has passed legislation to permit 
county boards
to give cumulative voting rights in county elections.

Many counties in Illinois use multi-seat districts without 
cumulative voting
rights; the political minority is then dramatically under-represented.
DuPage County is the prime example (the home of U.S. Congressman 
Henry Hyde,
just west of Chicago's Cook County): with 6 districts electing 
three county
board members each, not a single Democrat serves on the county board.
Democrats typically earn at least a third of the vote in each of the
districts (and some Democratic statewide candidates have earned a 
majorityof the vote in the county), but Republicans win all 18 seats.

If voters enjoyed cumulative voting rights, it is extremely likely 
that the
Democratic minority in DuPage County would elect one of the three 
countyboard members in each of the districts, more accurately 
reflecting the
electorate.

Most of the counties that are majority Democratic use single-member
districts, so Republicans generally have some representation 
(though still
generally under-represented).

Governor Blagojevich has until approximately August 9th to sign the
legislation. The bill number is HB 138. The full text and legislative
history of the bill are here:
http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/BillStatus.asp?

DocNum=138&GAID=3&Do

cTypeID=HB&LegId=353&SessionID=3

The legislation also authorizes citizen-initiated advisory 
referenda on the
structure of the county board.

If the governor signs the bill, I'll post to the list any news of any
counties that take advantage of the new opportunity to grant 
cumulativevoting rights. (There are 102 counties, about half of 
which use multi-seat
districts, so I'm hoping we'll snag at least one or two). If 
anyone would
like more information about the legislation, I'm happy to provide 
it on- or
off-list.

Best,
Dan
Dan Johnson-Weinberger
General Counsel
Center for Voting and Democracy
325 West Huron #304
Chicago, IL 60610
www.fairvote.org
djw@fairvote.org
312.587.7060 (office)
312.933.4890 (mobile)
Electing a legislature?
    Use cumulative voting in three-member districts so all voters 
have a
voice
Electing an executive like governor, mayor or president?
    Use instant runoff voting so the winner has a majority 
mandate and no
vote is wasted
"Those who are saying it cannot be done should not interrupt those 
who are
doing it." Chinese proverb