‘Illinois Separation’ director looks to clarify what 12 counties are voting on
(The Center Square) – Voters in 12 Illinois counties could join 33 others in declaring they want to break the state into two.
Thirty-three counties in Illinois have already approved such nonbinding resolutions to draw a new boundary outside of Cook County, with an average approval rate of 74%, according to Loret Newlin, director of the group Illinois Separation.
Newlin, who alongside others organizing the ballot questions across the state, said she hears the enthusiasm from people in counties that have approved the nonbinding questions in years past.
“Well, a lot of them were like, ‘can it be done already?’ A lot of enthusiasm,” Newlin told The Center Square this week. “And there’s, you know, there’s people that want it, but they don’t see that it’s ever going to happen.”
She said she also hears from people who have moved out of the state saying they will move back to Illinois if it ever does separate from Cook County.
For the Nov. 3 general midterm election, the referendum on the ballot in 12 counties reads “Shall the board of [specific] County correspond with the boards of the 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?”
Newlin said they’ve got the question on the ballots for Coles, Gallatin, Hamilton, Henderson, Macoupin, McDonough, Monroe, Piatt, Saline, Warren and Washington counties.
The question is also on the Adams County ballot for specific townships.
Newlin said it’s important voters understand what the question isn’t. She said it doesn’t join counties with the state of Indiana, it doesn’t separate Illinois from America, nor does it create a new state. She reiterated it is a nonbinding question and doesn’t force the county to do anything.
There are other efforts out there with similar themes. The group New Illinois is organizing people from across the state to advance a separate effort and to create a new constitution.
“They are a completely separate organization,” Newlin said. “And currently they’re working on a constitution. Our plan is to write a constitution with delegates from the counties where the referendum passes. It’s not about what politicians or experts think. The question at this time is, do voters want the possibility of a new state explored?”
The ballot question isn’t an opinion poll, she said.
“It gives every voter equal opportunity, equal access to answer the question,” Newlin said.
Newlin also said it is important for voters to realize this is not the effort that Indiana launched last year by creating a commission to investigate absorbing some Illinois counties into Indiana. That commission features members appointed by the governor of Indiana, which have been made, and the governor of Illinois, which have not been made.
Last year, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Indiana measure was a stunt. In August 2025, he said he hoped Illinoisans who were disgruntled would stick around and try to bring about positive change.
“I’m sorry that people want to make a spectacle of themselves by claiming that they’re going to leave the state,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Aug. 28, 2025. “Look, if you want to leave the state, I would like you to stay. I’d like you to get involved and make it a better place, by working together with us. But if you want to leave, then get up and move.”
Newlin reacted to that sentiment this week.
“In 2024, he was saying things like, ‘we are one Illinois,’ and I’m thinking, you have obviously not been outside of Cook County a whole lot because we are not one Illinois,” she said. “So it seems as though he’s kind of acknowledging that maybe, you know, maybe there is some distinctions between parts of Illinois. But I did think it was kind of funny. And, like we need permission.”
Newlin recognized the obstacles in the way of creating a new state, and that such efforts could take a long time to achieve. Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution requires state legislature and Congressional approval for separate statehood. She said getting the Illinois Separation questions approved at the county level is the first step.
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