I blogged about this before at
http://www.dailykos.com/...
and wanted to provide an update on all of the appeals and where it stands in "Blue" Illinois...
See the news portion of the Fair Illinois website:
http://www.fairillinois.org
While the final decision on the Illinois Family Insitute's petitions is still unclear, we had some very hopeful news this weekend. On Saturday, IFI attorneys appeared before a hearing officer of the Illinois State Board of Elections. They were unable to provide evidence to overcome the ISBE's presumption of invalidity, conceding that under current elections law, the IFI does not have sufficient public support to place this unfair referendum on the ballot. Based on this evidence, the hearings officer will recommend to the ISBE that they not certify the referendum for November's ballot. The ISBE meets on the 11th to consider the hearing officer's recommendations. The ISBE will also discuss how to proceed with our objections at that time.
In the meantime, the IFI is appealing the ruling of the US District Court (dismissing their federal complaint - see below for more details). The US Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) denied IFI's request for a temporary injunction. This means that the ISBE may proceed with its meeting on the 11th to decide, under current Illinois' elections law, whether the referendum may be placed on the ballot. The US Court of Appeals has agreed to hear IFI's appeal on an expedited basis, but briefing will not be completed until August 18th.
We continue to be very optimistic that, in the end, these proceedings will uphold what we know to be true: that the Illinois Family Institute does not have enough support, and that this unfair referendum should not be placed on the ballot.