Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Associated Press

Come November, Cook County voters will have a say in whether the state constitution should be amended to allow for the recall of elected officials -- including the governor.

Supporters of the recall amendment have quietly gotten an advisory referendum on the issue on to Cook County's ballots for the fall. The vote won't bring any official changes, but Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, a supporter of the amendment, told the Chicago Tribune for a story on its Web site that votes speak "a language any politician would understand."

"There's no question that (Gov. Blagojevich's) rocky performance over the last year has underlined the need for recall in Illinois," Quinn said. "Between (convicted former Gov.) George Ryan and Gov. Blagojevich, they are exhibit A and exhibit B for the need to be held accountable at all times, not just at election time."

A Blagojevich spokesman told the Tribune that the governor supports giving recall power to voters.

The House voted in April for an amendment that would let voters recall the governor and other top officials. Governor Blagojevich's allies in the Senate then blocked it.

Senators also killed an effort to ask voters statewide whether they want to recall top elected officials.

Supporters got the issue on Cook County's ballot by collecting 900 signatures and submitting them to county Clerk David Orr's office. While 900 is far short of what would typically be required to include a proposal on a ballot, no one challenged the submissions by the Aug. 25 deadline.