Illinois Statutes Chapter 70. Special Districts § 3615/1.05. Referendum on establishment

§ 1.05. Referendum on establishment. A special referendum election shall be held at which there shall be submitted to the electors in the metropolitan region the proposition to approve creation of the Authority, which proposition shall be in substantially the following form:

Shall a Regional Transportation Authority be created for Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties, Illinois?

The special referendum election shall be conducted by the County Clerks and Boards of Election Commissioners in the metropolitan region pursuant to the provisions of “The Election Code”, approved May 11, 1943, as amended,  1 except as is specifically provided otherwise in this Section. The special referendum election shall be held at the same time and with the same judges, polling places and precincts as for the regular primary elections to be held on March 19, 1974, in the metropolitan region.

The proposition shall be submitted to the electors on a separate paper ballot to be printed on blue paper. The State Board of Elections shall prepare and certify the form of ballot to the County Clerks and Boards of Election Commissioners in the metropolitan region.

Notice of the referendum election shall be given by the State Board of Elections. In addition, such notice may be given by the County Clerks and Boards of Election Commissioners. Each notice of the special election shall set forth the proposition to be voted upon, the date of the election and the time the polling places will be open and shall state that the polling places and precincts for such election shall be the same as for the primary elections held on such date. The notice given by the State Board of Elections shall be published in one or more daily newspapers of general circulation in the metropolitan region at least once not less than 20 days prior to the election. Notice of the special referendum election need not set forth the precincts or polling places in detail. Notices given by County Clerks or Boards of Election Commissioners shall be in the form prescribed by the State Board of Elections.

The votes shall be canvassed and returned in the manner provided for public measures submitted to the electors of the entire State, including the provisions for tally sheets, certificates of results, canvassing and abstracts of votes. Only those ballots properly marked yes or no shall be counted in the referendum. Each municipal Board of Election Commissioners shall make its return to the County Clerk of the County in which it is located; the County Clerks and any County Board of Election Commissioners shall each make returns covering their entire county to the State Board of Elections. Each County Clerk and Board of Election Commissioners shall prepare and certify an abstract of votes cast on the proposition in the precincts within its election jurisdiction. The County Clerks and any county Board of Election Commissioners shall transmit the certified abstracts to the State Board of Elections with its return within 10 days of the referendum. To meet this deadline, the County Clerks and Boards of Election Commissioners shall canvass the votes cast in the special referendum election prior to canvassing the votes cast for any office in the regular primary election, and may certify the results of and make returns on the special referendum election prior to completing those procedures for the regular primary elections.

The State Board of Elections shall proclaim and certify the results of the referendum election. If a majority of those electors properly marking ballots on the proposition vote in favor of the creation of the Authority, such Authority shall thereby be established.