The overwhelming majority of Evanston voters passed a referendum supporting ranked choice voting in 2022 — yet the city still hasn’t adopted the practice.
Instead, the measure was challenged by the Cook County Clerk and struck down by the Circuit Court. Advocacy group Reform for Illinois recently appealed this ruling.
Under a ranked choice voting system, voters rank candidates in order of preference in place of voting for a single candidate. A candidate who wins over 50% of first-choice votes wins the election.
In the event that no candidate secures the majority, the individual with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and those votes transfer to their second choice. This process continues until one candidate reaches a majority.
Reform for Illinois says ranked choice voting saves money, as it eliminates the need for primaries and is more efficient. Ranked choice voting may also encourage more collegiality among candidates, which would be a welcome relief from the animosity that has emerged this municipal election cycle.
Eighty-two percent of Evanston voters approved the 2022 referendum to replace the city’s “winner-take-all” voting system, making Evanston the first municipality in Illinois to adopt ranked choice voting.
The system was originally intended to go into effect for the city’s upcoming 2025 consolidated municipal elections.
Still, the change didn’t garner traction until June 2024, when City Council passed an ordinance calling for the implementation of ranked choice voting, citing a lack of action from the county clerk.
At the time, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who has long advocated for ranked choice voting initiatives, said the ordinance was necessary to make sure the “will of the voters” was accurately reflected in Evanston’s elections.
Ald. Devon Reid (8th) was City Council’s lone dissenting voice, saying that the ordinance simply lacked the specificity required for its implementation.
The county clerk and a Circuit Court judge ostensibly agreed with Reid.
In November 2024, the Circuit Court ruled to invalidate Evanston’s ranked choice voting referendum, saying that it was “vague, ambiguous, and not self-executing.”
County Judge Maureen Ward Kirby said in the ruling that ranked choice voting is at odds with the Illinois Election Code. Kirby cited passages stating that a voter’s ballot will not be counted if that voter selects more candidates than the number of positions to be filled. The code is also said to prohibit the use of machines permitting voters to choose more than one candidate.
Kirby also said the fact that the referendum requires the county clerk’s assistance with voting machines would be problematic as she said it conflicts with an Illinois law that requires referendums to stand on their own.
In a December 2024 statement, Reform for Illinois announced it would appeal this decision.
“We’re appealing because we disagree with this ruling, which has far-reaching implications beyond Evanston and ranked-choice voting,” said Reform for Illinois Executive Director Alisa Kaplan in the statement. “Illinois residents have a right to determine how they will be governed.”
David Melton, Reform for Illinois’ board president, said the group filed an appellate brief a couple weeks ago and is now waiting for the opposition’s brief, which he said is due in March.
Melton said Reform for Illinois has based the appeal on the grounds that the referendum was “perfectly clear and legitimate.”
“Our view is there’s nothing ambiguous about it,” Melton told The Daily. “It was a made up argument.”
Melton alleged that the clerk was directed to oppose the measure by the Cook County Democratic Party.
A spokesperson for the county clerk’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Melton said that the original referendum was completed pursuant to Article 7 of the Illinois Constitution, which outlines the powers of home rule entities to choose their method of holding elections.
“It’s absolutely clear under the (Illinois) Constitution that they can do it,” Melton said.
Furthermore, Melton dismissed the clerk’s claim that it lacked the authority to implement the reform as “disingenuous.” He said the clerk could “easily” direct the supplier of Evanston’s current voting equipment to submit new equipment to the state board of elections for approval.
Melton added that the company supplying Evanston’s current voting equipment already has a software module that can be used to implement the change. Despite the county ruling against the new voting system, he is cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the appeal.
“I believe that we have the stronger, the better, the more persuasive and the more reasonable arguments on this, so I believe we should win this case,” Melton added. “But I’ve been doing litigation for about 50 years, and you can never be certain where a case is going to come out.”
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Related Stories:
— Evanston ranked choice voting referendum struck down by county circuit court
— Ahead of ranked-choice voting in Evanston in 2025, Illinois sees push for electoral reform
