7 Illinois counties vote in favor of exploring secession from Chicago

ILLINOIS (WTVO) — The citizens of seven Illinois counties have voted to consider splitting from the state's most populous county, Cook County, which is home to Chicago.

Each of the seven counties – Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Green, Jersey, Madison and Perry – had a ballot question that read:

“Shall the board of (the county) correspond with the boards of other counties of Illinois, outside of Cook County, about the possibility of separating from Cook County to form a new state and to seek admission to the Union as such, subject to the approval of the people?”

The ballot question passed in all seven of the Illinois counties, according to local election results reviewed by NBC Chicago.

It's not the first time that parts of the state have considered breaking off from the Chicago area. Similar measures have already passed in about two dozen other Illinois counties, reports NPR.

Illinois voters who support the referendums argue that Chicago and Cook County hold an outsized sway in policies enacted by the state legislature, and do not align with the priorities of more rural and downstate voters.

Of the seven counties that voted on the ballot measure Tuesday, four are part of the St. Louis, Missouri, metro area. Madison County is the first suburban county to join the movement and the largest so far, with a population of 265,000.

Despite the idea's popularity, the recent batch of ballot measures aren't likely to make any major changes.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul shot down the idea, saying, “It is my opinion that non-home-rule counties… do not have the authority to secede from the state of Illinois and join another state. Accordingly, any referendum on the issue of county secession would have no binding legal effect.”

Any sort of secession and new state creation would need approval from both parties and Congress.

“The admissions clause [of the U.S. Constitution] grants Congress the power to admit new states and prevents a subdivision of an existing state from breaking away without the state’s consent," Raoul said.

“The idea that someplace in Illinois wants to kick out another place in Illinois should not be on the ballot, shouldn’t be something that’s part of the lexicon and discussion of politicians. We’re one state, supporting each other,” said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in May.