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1970 Illinois elections

(Redirected from 1970 Illinois constitution ratification question)

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 3, 1970.[1]

1970 Illinois elections
← 1969 November 3, 1970 1972 →
Turnout69.90%

Primaries were held on March 17, 1970.[1]

Additionally, on December 15, 1970, a special election was held in which Illinois voters voted in support of adopting a new proposed state constitution.[2]

Election information

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1970 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

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Turnout in the primary election was 29.88%, with a total of 1,570,317 ballots cast. 819,692 Democratic and 750,625 Republican primary ballots were cast.[1]

Turnout during the general election was 69.90%, with 3,731,006 ballots cast.[1]

2,017,717 people cast ballots in the December 15 special election regarding the proposed new Illinois constitution.[1]

Federal elections

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United States Senate

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Main article: 1970 United States Senate special election in Illinois
See also: 1970 United States Senate elections

A special election was held to fill the remainder of the term of Republican Everett Dirksen, who had died in office. Republican Ralph Tyler Smith had been appointed to fill the seat after Dirksen's death, and he lost the special election to Democrat Adlai Stevenson III.

United States House

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Main article: 1970 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois
See also: 1970 United States House of Representatives elections

All 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1970.

No seats switched parties, so the party composition of Illinois' House delegation remained 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

State elections

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Treasurer

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1970 Illinois State Treasurer election
 
← 1966 November 3, 1970 1974 →
Turnout65.15%[1]
     
Nominee Alan J. Dixon Edmund J. Kucharski
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,772,209 1,683,437
Percentage 50.96% 48.41%
 
County results
Dixon:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Kucharski:      50–60%      60–70%
Treasurer before election

Adlai Stevenson III
Democratic

Elected Treasurer

Alan J. Dixon
Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer Adlai Stevenson III, a Democrat, did not seek a second term, instead opting to run for United States Senate. Democrat Alan J. Dixon was elected to succeed him in office.

Since Adlai Stevenson III assumed his U.S. Senate office November 17, due to the nature of it being a special election, there was a brief vacancy in the treasurer's office before Dixon would assume office. Therefore, Governor Richard B. Ogilvie appointed Republican Charles W. Woodford to serve as treasurer from November 17 until Dixon took office on January 3.

Democratic primary

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Treasurer Democratic primary[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Alan J. Dixon 584,021 100
Write-in Others 5 0.0
Total votes 584,026 100

Republican primary

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Treasurer Republican primary[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Edmund J. Kucharski 564,682 100
Write-in Others 2 0.00
Total votes 564,684 100

General election

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Treasurer election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Alan J. Dixon 1,772,209 50.96
Republican Edmund J. Kucharski 1,683,437 48.41
Socialist Workers Naomi Allen 13,119 0.38
Socialist Labor John H. Brown, Jr. 8,923 0.26
Write-in Others 19 0.00
Total votes 3,477,707 100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

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1970 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election
 
← 1966 November 3, 1970
Turnout64.90%[1]
     
Nominee Michael Bakalis Ray Page
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,957,262 1,483,901
Percentage 56.50% 42.84%
Superintendent before election

Ray Page
Republican

Elected Superintendent

Michael Bakalis
Democratic

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Ray Page, a Republican seeking a third term, was defeated by Democrat Michael Bakalis.

Democratic primary

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael Bakalis 556,752 100
Write-in Others 6 0.0
Total votes 556,758 100

Republican primary

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ray Page (incumbent) 561,149 100
Write-in Others 17 0.00
Total votes 561,166 100

General election

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Superintendent of Public Instruction election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael J. Bakalis 1,957,262 56.50
Republican Ray Page (incumbent) 1,483,901 42.84
Socialist Workers Emerson Allen 13,931 0.40
Socialist Labor George A. LaForest 8,829 0.26
Write-in Others 28 0.00
Total votes 3,463,951 100

State Senate

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Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1970. While there was a 29-29 member split in the chamber after the election, Democrats flipped control of the chamber since there was a Democratic lieutenant governor (Paul Simon).

State House of Representatives

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Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1970. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

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1970 Trustees of University of Illinois election
← 1968 November 3, 1970 1972 →

Elections were held to elect Trustees of University of Illinois system. This included a regularly-scheduled election of three seats, and a special election to fill a vacancy.

Regular election

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The regular to fill three seats saw the election new Democratic members William D. Forsyth Jr., George W. Howard III, and Earl L. Neal.[1][4]

Incumbent Republican Earl Edwin Walker (appointed in 1970) was not reelected.[1][4] Incumbent Republican W. Clement Stone (appointed in 1969 to replace Harold Pogue following his death in office) lost reelection, running in the regular election instead of the special election to fill Pogue's seat.[1][4] Second-term Democratic incumbent Howard W. Clement was not renominated. Also not renominated was Democrat Theodore A. Jones (who had been appointed in 1963, and thereafter reelected in 1964)[1][4]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[1][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William D.Forsyth, Jr. 1,847,018 18.52
Democratic Earl L. Neal 1,799,712 18.05
Democratic George W. Howard, III 1,718,008 17.23
Republican W. Clement Stone (incumbent**) 1,550,038 15.54
Republican William George Karnes 1,495,900 15.00
Republican Earl Edwin Walker (incumbent) 1,470,326 14.75
Socialist Workers Nancy Jean Cole 20,846 0.21
Socialist Workers Deborah J. Notkin 16,266 0.16
Socialist Labor Elizabeth Schnur 15,217 0.15
Socialist Workers Mark Ugolini 14,024 0.14
Socialist Labor Stanley L. Prorok 13,769 0.14
Socialist Labor Clarys L. Essex 9,978 0.10
Total votes 9,971,102 100

Special election

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Democrat Roger B. Pogue defeated Republican educator and Illinois State Representative Frances L. Dawson in the special election to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired term. Despite losing in the popular vote, Dawson placed first in 64 counties, while Pogue placed first in 38.[1]

Incumbent Republican W. Clement Stone (appointed in 1969 to replace Harold Pogue, whose seat this had been, after his death in office), did not run in this election, instead running in the regular election for a full term.[1][4]

Turnout for the special election was 60.87%.[1]

Trustees of the University of Illinois special election[1][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roger B. Pogue 1,670,201 51.41
Republican Frances L. Dawson 1,578,787 48.59
Write-in Others 3 0.00
Total votes 3,248,991 100

Judicial elections

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Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1970.[1]

Ballot measures (November 3)

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Three ballot measures (two legislatively referred constitutional amendments and one bond measure) were on the ballot on November 3. The two legislatively referred constitutional amendments proposed amendments to the existing 1870 Constitution of Illinois. In order to be placed on the ballot, legislatively referred constitutional amendments needed to be approved by two-thirds of each house of the Illinois General Assembly.[5] In order to be approved, they required votes equal to a majority of those who voted in the 1970 elections, or two thirds of those voting specifically on the measure.

Illinois Ad Valorem Tax Prohibition Amendment

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The Ad Valorem Tax Prohibition Amendment, also known as "Amendment 1", prohibited the taxation of personal property by valuation.[6]

Illinois Ad Valorem Tax Prohibition Amendment[6][1]
Option Votes % of votes
on measure 		% of all ballots
cast
Yes 2,925,058 87.70 78.40%
No 410,333 12.30 11.00
Total votes 3,335,391 100 89.40
Voter turnout 62.49%

Illinois Anti-Pollution Amendment

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The Illinois Anti-Pollution Amendment, also known as "Amendment 2", approved the Anti-pollution Bond Act.[7]

Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.

Illinois Anti-Pollution Amendment[7][1]
Option Votes % of highest legislative vote
cast
Yes 2,291,718
No 544,116
Total votes 2,835,834
Voter turnout 53.13%

Illinois Banking Act Amendment

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The Illinois Banking Act Amendment, also known as "Amendment 3", enabled state chartered banks to have the same powers as national banks.[8]

Illinois Banking Act Amendment[8][1]
Option Votes % of votes
on measure 		% of all ballots
cast
Yes 2,925,058 87.70 78.40
No 410,333 12.30 11.00
Total votes 3,335,391 100 78.40
Voter turnout 62.49%

Ballot measures (December 15)

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A December 15 special election was held in which the proposed 1970 Constitution of Illinois itself was up for election, as were several constitutional convention referral items. The constitutional convention referral items would only take effect if the new constitution itself was approved.

The constitution and all amendments to amend it were required to be approved by at least half of all those casting ballots in the election.[1]

2,017,717 people cast ballots.[1]

Constitution Ratification Question

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Constitution Ratification Question, 1970
 
Concerns the Ratification of the 1970 Illinois Constitution
Results
Choice
 Votes %
  Yes 1,122,425 57.25%
  No 838,168 42.75%
Valid votes 1,960,593 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00%
Total votes 1,960,593 100.00%
 

Illinois voters voted on whether or not the state would adopt the Illinois Constitution of 1970.[1][2]

Illinois Constitution Ratification Question[2][9]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Yes 1,122,425 55.63
No 838,168 41.54
Total votes 1,960,593 97.17

Appoint All Judges Amendment

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The Appoint All Judges Amendment was a ballot question which asked voters whether judges should be appointed by the governor from a list of nominees or elected by the people.[10]

If voters had voted for appointment, Illinois' constitution would have have contained an article outlining a Missouri Plan-syle "merit selection" system in which the governor would nominate judicial appointees that had first been recommended by judicial nominating commission. The Illinois Bar Association had endorsed a vote for appointed judges. However, the state's voters instead opted to retain direct election of judges.[11] As a result, Illinois retained the system of judicial election that had been outlined in the previous constitution after the adoption of the 1962 Illinois Judicial Amendment[11][12]

Appoint All Judges Amendment[1][2]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Elect 1,013,559 50.23
Appoint 867,230 42.98
Total votes 1,880,789 93.21

Death Penalty Amendment

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The Death Penalty Amendment proposed abolishing the death penalty in Illinois.[13] It was defeated.[13]

Death Penalty Amendment[1][2][13]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Yes 676,302 33.52
No 1,218,791 60.41
Total votes 1,895,093 93.92

State Representation Amendment

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The Illinois State Representation Amendment (also known as the "Elect Legislature Question") was a ballot question which asked voters whether they wished to retain multi-member districts in the state legislature of switch to single-member districts.[10]

State Representation Amendment[1][2][10]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Multi-Member 1,031,241 51.11
Single-Member 749,909 37.17
Total votes 1,781,150 88.28

Voting Age Amendment

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The Voting Age Amendment proposed lowering the age of suffrage to 18.[14] It was defeated.[14]

Voting Age Amendment[1][2]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Yes 869,816 43.11
No 1,052,924 52.18
Total votes 1,922,740 95.29

Local elections

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Local elections were held.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 3, 1970 JUDICIAL • MEMBERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION PRIMARY AND GENERAL • PROPOSED 1970 CONSTITUTION • SPECIAL ELECTIONS • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH, 17, 1970" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Kopecky, Frank; Harris, Mary Sherman. Understanding the Illinois Constitution 2001 Edition (PDF). Illinois State Bar Association. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d Illinois Blue Book 1969-1970. Illinois Secretary of State. p. 854.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  5. ^ Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
  6. ^ a b "Illinois Ad Valorem Tax Prohibition Amendment (1970)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Illinois Anti-Pollution Amendment (1970)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Illinois Banking Act Amendment (1970)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  9. ^ "Illinois Constitution Ratification Question (December 1970)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "Illinois State Representation Amendment (December 1970)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Illinois Supreme Court History: Illinois's Elected Judiciary". Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. October 27, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  12. ^ Rolewick, David F. "A Short History of the Illinois Judicial Systems" (PDF). Illinois State Bar Association. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "Illinois Death Penalty Amendment (December 1970)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Illinois Voting Age Amendment (December 1970)". Ballotpedia.
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