Progress Illinois

If the constitutional convention referendum isn't approved by voters today, it's pretty clear that won't be the last we hear of it.  After Lt. Gov Pat Quinn and the Chicago Bar Association filed a lawsuit last month to have the flawed Con-Con ballot language replaced, election officials came up with their own solution, which a judge ultimately approved: they would hand out flyers at all polling places that provided the corrected language and informed voters to disregard the wording on the ballot.

But according to many of the readers at Capitol Fax, numerous polling places failed to provide the flyer to voters.  In some cases, it was nowhere to be found.  In others, it was taped on the inside of the polling booth.  (UPDATE: The Madison County Record, a downstate outlet, reports that there's "widespread non-compliance.")

Meanwhile, the Beachwood Reporter's Steve Rhodes appears to have missed the question entirely:

I almost missed voting on the Con-Con referendum. After I thought I had completed my voting, I wondered where the Con-Con question was. I even thought it was missing. Then I found it at the very beginning of the ballot, right where I was instructed to "Start Voting Here."

It was shaded in blue, though, almost like a space for official use only or instructions. My guess is others will miss it too - and not go back looking for it. [...]

Cate Plys writes:

"Bad news, you DID miss the con-con question. I, too, completed the question in blue at the very beginning - but that was just an example. I realized that when I got to the very bottom and found the real Con-Con question, which I almost didn't see. Wonder if they did that on purpose? I checked with the election staff and they confirmed that the blue one was just an example. I checked with them because I was afraid filling out the sample one would ruin the ballot."

That really, really sucks. I really cared about that vote.

Yikes.