Group appealing ruling on Evanston’s ranked choice voting referendum

[December 14, 2024]  By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – After more than 82% of Evanston voters approved a 2022 referendum adopting ranked choice voting, Reform for Illinois will appeal a recent court decision they say limits the power of Illinois municipalities to reform their local elections.

RFI Chairman David Melton said there were two parts to Cook County Judge Maureen Ward Kirby’s Nov. 12 ruling. One part of the ruling was where the judge said the referendum was ambiguously worded.

“The second part of the ruling was that the Cook County clerk had no power to do anything to actually implement ranked choice voting because she found that the state board of elections has the power to certify voting equipment for use, and the Cook County Clerk could not submit the equipment, only the vendor of the equipment could submit it to the board for certification,” said Melton.

Melton said these were “make-weight arguments” because the judge could have simply directed the Cook County Clerk to work with the Illinois State Board of Elections and the equipment supplier, which is Dominion.

The Illinois State Board of Elections confirmed county clerks need a voting system that has been certified for use in ranked-choice voting.

“We know, and we've put before the court, the fact that the Dominion voting machines in question that are used in Cook County, Dominion markets and sells a software module that can be added to the current machines to allow it to use ranked choice voting process,” said Melton.

Melton said he believes the opposition to implementing ranked-choice voting is mainly coming from the Cook County Democratic Party.

Evanston, Illinois - CityofEvanston.org

“The [Democratic] party feels that ranked-choice voting would undercut its power in connection with slating candidates, getting fees for slating candidates and dealing with the politics of primaries,” said Melton. “The Cook County Clerk in this case was represented by Michael Kasper, a well-known election law attorney who's, for a long time, represented Michael Madigan and has been active in representing the Democratic Party in Cook County.”

The Cook County Democratic Party did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Separately, Kasper was hired in December 2022 by the town of Normal to prevent candidates’ running for Town Supervisor from appearing on the ballot, despite those candidates receiving petition signatures.

Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Mark Fellheimer dismissed legal action filed against Normal, saying his interpretation of state and municipal law does not indicate they were legally obligated to approve candidate petitions for offices that were either appointed or nonexistent at the time of filing.

After the ruling, House Bill 3337 was born and passed in the Illinois House in 2023, that bill amended Illinois Municipal that originally conflicted with Normal’s code.

Melton explained ranked choice voting is a process that allows voters to rank candidates for a particular office in order of preference.

"The benefits are that it eliminates primaries but it also has a significant benefit in helping weed out the most extreme candidates and encouraging candidates to take a less partisan view of issues,” said Melton.

Melton suspects the appeal will be briefed in the spring and could perhaps be orally argued before the summer of 2025. So, even if the judge rules in RFI’s favor, ranked choice voting will likely not be implemented before the 2025 Consolidated Elections.