Constitutional convention on the ballot

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By Mike Riopell | Friday, June 27, 2008 10:26 PM CDT | () comments

SPRINGFIELD — At some point this fall, the state is going to have to mail out more than 6 million multi-page fliers to let people know they can vote in November on whether the state should have a

convention to change the constitution.

Voters get the option of asking for a constitutional convention every 20 years in Illinois, and the fliers letting people know is a required part of the process.

Come late September or early October, the fliers should be pretty easy to find. They’ll be sent to every mailing address in the state — homes and businesses.

The secretary of state’s office has been working on the issue all year already, including giving the U.S. Postal Service an early heads-up.

“You can’t just dump six million letters on them,” said Brenda Glahn, an attorney for Secretary of State Jesse White.

Depending on the county, the fliers will have to be printed in Spanish and Chinese in addition to English.

Glahn said it’s unclear how much the undertaking will cost. The state is now looking for someone to print everything because the job is too big for them.

Included in the pamphlet will be arguments for and against having a convention as laid out by lawmakers. The current state constitution was adopted in 1970.

People against a convention say lawmakers can amend the document now if they want to without holding a lengthy and costly event to rewrite it completely.

Mike Riopell can be contacted at (217) 789-0865 or mike.riopell@lee.net.