Section 208.10  Certification by the State Board of Elections of Proposed Amendments to the Illinois Constitution and Statewide Questions of Public Policy

a)         WHEREAS, the Illinois Constitution of 1970, Article XIV, Section 2, provides that the General Assembly may initiate amendments to the Constitution and is not limited in the total number of amendments to be submitted to the electorate except in the constitutional restriction of amending not more than three (3) Articles of the Constitution at any one election; and

b)         WHEREAS, the Illinois Constitution of 1970, Article XIV, Section 3, provides that amendments to Article IV of the Constitution may be proposed by a petition signed by a number of electors equal in number to at least 8% of the total votes cast for candidates for governor in the preceding gubernatorial election; and

c)         WHEREAS, the Election Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 46, par. 28-1) provides, in pertinent part, that questions of public policy shall be submitted to the electorate upon receipt of petitions that contain the signatures of 10% of the registered voters in the state except that not more than three (3) propositions shall be submitted at the same election; and

d)         WHEREAS, Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 46, Section 1-3(12) requires the State Board of Elections to certify the form of ballot for amendments to the Illinois Constitution and for statewide referenda;

e)         WHEREFORE, the State Board of Elections shall certify amendments to the Illinois Constitution and statewide questions of public policy as hereinafter set forth;

1)         The State Board of Elections shall prepare and certify the form of ballot to be used at the General Election for all proposed amendments to the Illinois Constitution, submitted either by the General Assembly or initiated by petition, according to the chronological order in which they are filed with the Secretary of State or State Board of Elections, as the case may be.

2)         The State Board of Elections shall prepare and certify the form of ballot for statewide questions of public policy according to the chronological order in which they are filed with the State Board of Elections.

3)         Petitions filed in the office of the State Board of Elections shall be deemed to be filed as of the time they are actually received by the State Board of Elections.  If more than one set of petitions are offered for filing at the same time, such offering shall constitute a simultaneous filing and be subject to a lottery to determine which petition was first filed.

4)         There shall be no limit on the number of proposed constitutional amendments initiated by petition to be placed on the ballot at the same election, nor shall there be a limit on the number of proposed constitutional amendments submitted by the General Assembly to be placed on the ballot at the same election except that the State Board of Elections shall not certify amendments to more than three (3) Articles of the Constitution at the same election.