| Dear Editor:
On Election Day, November 4, 2008, the League of Women Voters of
___________ urges our fellow citizens to vote NO on the question
of whether to hold an Illinois constitutional convention.
In a statewide study, our membership overwhelmingly opposed the
call for these reasons:
- We face the risk of exposing the entire constitution to revision
and the loss of 1970 gains.
- The cost of a convention outweighs possible benefits. A convention,
if held, has the unlimited power to rewrite the whole constitution
and there is no guarantee that any single issue that supporters
of the call want addressed will actually be addressed.
- The amendment process is the appropriate way to handle single
issues, such as recall of elected officials. It has been relatively
successful since the 1970 Constitution was adopted, with 10 out
of 17 proposed amendments being adopted by the voters (3 of the
defeated ones were the same proposal).
- We are concerned that special interests and party politics will
gain control of the delegate election process as well as the convention's
deliberations with the potential for the results being unrepresentative
of voter's concerns.
- We are concerned that the current political dysfunction in state
government will extend to the convention.
Most of those supporting the call for convention are willing to
risk the entire constitution for their cause, whether it be for
recall of officials or lower taxes. While the League is a strong
supporter of some changes, including adequate and consistent funding
for public education, we do not believe that any one issue is so
important that a constitutional convention is the appropriate means
to address it. The League is a non-partisan organization with a
long history of support for constitutional reform when needed. Now
is not the time to give unlimited power to a convention to rewrite
a basically sound constitution.
Join us. Vote NO on November 4.
Sincerely,
_____________
President
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