‘Illinois Separation’ director looks to clarify what 12 counties are
voting on
[October 13, 2026]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(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?”
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A campaign sign promoting an Illinois Separation ballot referendum
is displayed along a roadside in Illinois. Credit: Photo: Courtesy
of Loret Newlin
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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