Many Illinois voters walked up to the ballot on Nov. 5 of 2024 and found a referendum that asked constituents to vote for whether or not they wanted to secede from Cook County, which includes the majority of Chicago.
The referendum that appeared on the ballot read, “Shall the Board of (the respective) County correspond with the boards of other counties of Illinois outside of Cook about the possibility of separating from Cook County to form a new state, and to seek admission to the Union as such, subject to the approval of the people?”
Exactly 33 counties in Illinois have voted for this measure since 2020, including the seven counties that voted during the 2024 election cycle: Madison, Clinton, Perry, Jersey, Green, Calhoun and Iroquois…