Illinois Separation, the main organization behind the movement to split Illinois into two states, showed surprising strength last week. Friday was the last day for the Illinois State Board of Elections to certify candidates and public questions for inclusion on the 2024 general election ballot. Illinois Separation, in a Facebook post, revealed that seven counties will vote then on this ballot question: “Shall the Board of ____ County correspond with the boards of other counties of Illinois outside of Cook 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 question is non-binding.

The seven counties are listed below.  In Calhoun and Greene counties, citizens forced the question onto the ballot by collecting the number of valid signatures required by state law. In the other five counties, county boards unanimously or near-unanimously voted to add the question to the ballot.

In 2020-2022, 26 and a half counties voted in favor of such questions, and none voted in opposition. The counties averaged 74% in favor.  With the partial county, Madison County, voting as a whole on the topic this year, the number of counties voting in favor of the proposal could reach 33. Illinois has 101 counties.

The possibility that downstate Illinois could become a new state increased recently when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed openness to next year ending the ability of minorities to block Senate legislation using a filibuster. It’s conceivable that Democrats could trade statehood for Washington DC or Puerto Rico in return for statehood for downstate Illinois. It seems unlikely though, since the motivation for the movement for statehood for Washington DC seems to be mostly to lessen the Republican advantage in the Senate and in the electoral college.

Constitutionally, any deal to make downstate Illinois into a state would require approval from the Illinois General Assembly. Downstate Illinois legislators haven’t garnered support from upstate legislators for their bills that would advance the proposal, even though it would benefit upstate Illinois fiscally. The only region of the state that pays more than its share in state taxes are the collar counties around Chicago, according to a Southern Illinois University analysis.

Even downstate Illinois lawmakers sometimes shy away from the idea, as many of their donors reside in upstate Illinois.

Iroquois County will be the first county to vote on the issue that is not more southerly than Peoria, as the movement has been predominantly in the southern half of the state.

Jersey County board member Eric Ivers advocates for the Illinois state line to be relocated to make downstate Illinois a part of a neighboring state: Missouri. His county board voted May 14 to put the question on his county’s ballot. The idea of relocating the state line has been championed by a blog called Red-State Secession, whose Facebook group was cancelled by Facebook in 2021 but is survived by its MeWe group, Downstate Illinois Secession. Neither is associated with Illinois Separation, the main group focused on creating a new state.

A few legislators in Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky briefly showed interest to the blog about relocating state borders. If there is to be progress, the movement will have to solicit a resolution in favor from a neighboring state legislature, or a bill to fund research into the impacts of relocating the state line.

The news that 23 counties voted for splitting Illinois in November 2020 was only reported by one news outlet, as attention was fixed on presidential election results. Only three and half counties have voted since then, as Illinois Separation’s and Downstate Illinois Secession’s heavily-followed Facebook groups and pages were inexplicably cancelled by Facebook three years ago. The Greater Idaho movement’s page and groups were deleted by Facebook at the same time, and also a few years prior.

The news that Illinois Separation now has questions on 7 county ballots is a sign that the movement has reconnected with some of its followers and is gaining strength. It dramatizes the role of Facebook in limiting the reach of conservative movements, especially movements that don’t affect the national conversations that Twitter and YouTube specialize in. It has limited the reach of the Texas Nationalist Movement, for example.

A third Illinois state-split organization exists, called New Illinois. It is not the organizer of the ballot referenda.

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LIST OF COUNTIES that will have this question on their 2024 General Election ballot with date and (if applicable) how their board voted:

MADISON Board vote: 15:7 4-17-2024

JERSEY Board vote: 14:00 5-14-2024

CLINTON Board vote: 12:1 7-15-2024

CALHOUN Petitions filed 7-25-2024

GREENE Petitions filed 8-03-2024

IROQUOIS Board vote: 11:3 8-13-2024

PERRY Commissioners vote: 3:0 8-15-2024