|
Print and Web Coverage
All I want for Christmas is some Peace on Earth
by Marcella Tardy, columnist, Lerner Newspapers
December 25, 2002
Rogers Park voters will have a chance to register their opinion - either officially or unofficially - on a possible war with Iraq when they go to the polls on Feb. 25. Donna Conroy, a Rogers Park resident said that she and other Democrats, Green Party members, students and activists have come together over their opposition to a unilateral invasion of Iraq and collected signatures to put the following referendum on eh49th Ward ballot:
Should the citizens of this ward oppose an invasion of Iraq by the United States?
It is not yet clear that any voter in the 49th Ward will actually see that question. That will be determined when the ballot is certified on Dec, 28, four days after the ink on this column has dried, but Conroy said she is optimistic.
We filed and we havent bee challenged, she said. Normally, if you file and you are not challenged, youre eon the ballot.
Tom Leach, spokesman for the City Board of Elections, said the referendum has not been challenged, but the board has to review the petition for apparent conformity, meaning to be sure there are enough signatures for the required 10 percent of registered voters. Whether the question is on or off the ballot will be know by the end of the week, he said.
Conroy isnt worried. Should the referendum not make it on the ballot, 49th Ward voters will still get a chance to weigh in on the question, she said.
If we are not allowed (on the ballot), then we are prepared to hold a peoples election on Election Day in all the precincts and have voters and the unregistered vote on this referendum, she said.
Look for the volunteer pollsters to be standing at the 100-foot perimeter of your polling place. The voting will be open to those age 16 and over, whether registered to vote or not. That arrangement will allow immigrants to anonymously cast a ballot as well.
The purpose of the effort goes beyond the poll. My goal is the discussionshe said. We feel the way to stop insecurity and economic decline is to create organized opposition to Bushs plan to invade Iraq.
Conroy says the ad hoc group will probably be called Secure Future. The effort need more volunteer power. If you would like to help, call Conroy at (773) 764-5865.
Ballot Initiative Strategy Center
http://www.ballot.org
Chicago to vote on a Referendum to Oppose Invasion in Iraq
December 2002
In February 2003 citizens in Chicagos Ward 49 will have an opportunity to officially express their support or opposition to a United States invasion of Iraq in an advisory referendum. Activists have long used ballot resolutions at the municipal level for a variety of local and global causes, including resolutions for nuclear freeze, referendums to prevent cities to trade with then apartheid supporting South Africa, and more recently to support a moratorium on the death penalty. Although these referendums are nonbonding and therefore do not have any legal force, they carry the force of the peoples will and have been effective in creating a mechanism for activists to organize and raise visibility on issues that are typically debated outside of the reach of average citizens.
Donna Conroy, the brainchild of the Chicago effort, is a web content writer, election judge, mother and a long-time peace activist who believes that its high time for the anti-war movement to get organized. Conroy has been the glue that is binding together the peace movement with the electoral arena to create more powerful political action.
Our initial step in Chicago is to create an organized opposition to Bushs plan both internationally and domestically, says Conroy. Voters in Illinois perceive his plan as creating more insecurity and further economic harm for the country. Many people are willing to take the political reins and create a vision of an America with real security, hope and prosperity, she adds.
About 25 volunteers collected nearly 2000 signatures to qualify for the ballot (certification will take place on December 28th). Another 100 volunteers tried to qualify the measure in four additional Wards. This loosely constructed group is largely made up of student groups, members of the Green Party and Democratic Party and members of community-based organizations. Theyre creating an organization called Secure Future to advocate for the referendum and formalize their opposition to the war. They plan on raising about $25,000 for the campaign.
This referendum is similar to a city of Chicago resolution to oppose invasion of Iraq that currently has 27 co-sponsors out of 50 aldermen and is expected to pass through the council in January.
One of the reasons why people seem so open to the idea of a referendum is because the municipal elections are not expected to be that exciting, Conroy believes. Mayor Richard Daley does not have a strong opponent and is expected to win re-election easily. However, his opponent, Paul Jakes has been outspoken in his criticism of President Bush's plans to invade Iraq. As a result, citizens have focused their election attention on getting their aldermans support for the anti-war resolution in addition to demanding that candidates take a position on both the resolution and referendum.
One thing that most people cant project is the response of the municipal candidates to an issue like this, says Conroy. The candidates and their volunteers have reacted very positively which has helped drop some of the barriers that often prevent city officials from thinking internationally and peace activists from focusing locally.
Conroy cites the American Prospect article Bite the Ballot as helping political activists get their mind around using the referendum to push forward a progressive political agenda. She claims one of the biggest obstacles is that most people arent aware of the referendum as a tool.
Only a fraction of registered voters are expected to vote in the February election. But Conroy feels that this issue will compel people to come to the polls. Part of the campaign involves registering new voters. People who ordinarily did not vote came out and voted in November of this year, and Democrats won as a result. (Comparing 2002 to 1998, overall voter turnout declined slightly in Illinois, but the number of Democratic voters increased.)
Citizens of Ward 49 in Chicago are of average age, modest income and nearly evenly split alone racial lines, but they have a high proportion of immigrants. Since many of the immigrants in this Ward are not registered voters, Conroys group plans on holding a peoples election. At each polling place theyll have a ballot box for registered votes and another box for non-registered voters.
Conroy understands that asking people to oppose the war is somewhat difficult for Americans, however, it seems like the right thing to do.
For more information:
Contact Donna Conroy at 773-764-5865 or dconroy@core.com
Chicago Reader - "Democracy Without the Details"
By Ben Joravsky, February 7, 2003
(edited for length)
Some Rogers Park anitwar activists hope an end run around elelction laws will get some results.
Voters in Rogers Park almost got to vote in the upcoming election on whether they want the U.S. to go to war against Iraq. Donna Conroy led a group of activists in an attempt to get the following referendum on the ballot in the 49th Ward:
Should the citizens of this ward oppose an invasion of Iraq by the United States?
Conroy and the other activists began talking seriously about the referendum last fall , as the Bush administration geared up for war. I oppose the war effort, says Conroy. I think were really in the very beginning stages of resolving conflict through negotiation and building sustainable economies. She says that almost all the people she knows also oppose the war, so she thought it would be a good idea to give voters an opportunity to voice their opinions and send an antiwar message to politicians.
After Thanksgiving she and the other activists began circulating petitions to get the question on the ballot. We walked the precincts in Rogers Park, she says. The reaction? There was tremendous high support. Everyone wanted to sign. Everyone- and I mean people of all different ethnic and economic backgrounds- wanted an opportunity to have a say. The vast majority of people felt this war would create further insecurity and economic decline. A lot of people felt that the administration had gone mad. They felt it was time that we the voters started to take the reins.
On December 9 Conroy turned 756 signatures asking that the question be placed on the ballot. I thought wed move to the next phase of the campaign, she says, which is letting everyone know about the referendum. Then in late December she got a notice from the election board telling her to appear at a hearing. According to the boards letter, she hadnt gathered enough signatures to make the ballot: the requirement was ten percent of the wards registered voters -1,900 or so signatures. The election board officials told her that the state had passed a law in 1995 saying that election boards have to examine every referendum request to see that it meets several basic requirements.
On January 7, Conroy went to the hearing with two activists who testified that theyd managed to get questions on the ballot even though they hadnt had enough signatures. One activist explained that she got a question about jobs and public works on the citywide ballot even though she submitted only about 5,00 signatures, far short of the 140,000 required. The other activist testified that he got a housing referendum on the ballot even though it wasnt clear he had the required number of signatures.
Board officials responded tat those referenda went on ballots before the new law went into effect. I know things used to be different, says Tom Leach, a longtime spokesman for the board. I can remember in the old days someone would come in with 100 signatures to something like, Should Com Edison cut their rates and give everyone a refund? We didnt have a choice-it made the ballot so long as no voters challenged it. But the legislature passed a law that gives the election commission the right to challenge on its own volition. That doesnt mane we go out and check the signatures. But we look at the petition to seen how many signatures they needed and how many they filed. And if they didnt fill enough they cant make the ballot.
On January 28 Conroy was back for a second hearing. This time she brought a lawyer, Thomas Geoghegan. He contended that the board had exceeded its authority by tallying up the signatures on the petitions. Its true she does not have 10 percent of the registered voters in the ward, he says. But the board doesnt have the authority to examine those signatures unless the petition is challenged by a resident of the ward.
Citing a state appellate court ruling in North v. Hinkle, Geoghegan argued that the board had the authority to do only a very basic examination of petitions. Theyre supposed to conduct a four-corner examination, meaning a basic examination of the face of the page of nominating papers, he says. But they went one step beyond that . The counted the signatures he gathered, then they determined from their won records how many registered voters there are in the war to see if she had reached 10 percent.
In effect, Geoghegan says, the board had stifled democracy by exceeding its powers. I think there guys on the board are honorable guys - I was really impressed with the courtesy with which we were treated, he says. But Im also saying you dont give unbridled search-and-destroy-type powers to the board of election. We should have a robust, red-blooded democracy, and this board, in my humble opinion, has interpreted the law to make democracy as anemic as possible.
Conroy asked the board to reverse itself. I explained that elections were like a call-and-response between citizen and government. she says. This particular referendum would allow citizens to us the ballot box to discuss and decide the circumstances that shape their lives. I also reminded the board that in the last fire elections a lot of people didnt vote. Maybe one reason they dont vote is because they see no relevance to the process. Well, here was a very relevant issue that everyone wants to talk about.
Conroy isnt deterred by the boards decision. She promises to do an honest count, resisting any temptation to discard ballots that support war. If we lose, we lose, she says. But this is about people being decision makers. I trust the people. I believe the people are smart. The question is giving them the opportunity to show it.
|
