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Jersey floats idea of leaving Illinois, becoming part of Missouri - Jacksonville Journal-Courier

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JERSEYVILLE — A Jersey County board member is asking the county to consider becoming part of Missouri.

Eric Ivers asked the board to discuss the issue and consider putting a referendum on the ballot to ask residents if the county should “promote moving the Illinois-Missouri border to make Jersey County a county of Missouri.”

Ivers said his proposal came after he learned about the movement to split Illinois into two states — one for the Chicago-area counties and the other for the downstate counties.

The idea of breaking away from Chicago remains popular with people, he said.

But he believes the only feasible way to do that is to change the borders so downstate counties become part of their neighboring states and leave the upper portion of Illinois on its own, he said.

Ivers wants to find out how Jersey County residents feel about the idea. A vote would determine if the residents want the county board to follow through on the possibility of seceding from Illinois and joining Missouri.

If such a vote were to make it to a ballot, it would be in November 2022, Ivers said, noting the idea remains in its early stages.

“There are two options of putting it on the ballot,” he said. “The first is to have the board decide as a group to put it on the ballot. The other option … if the board chooses not to do it is a petition drive to put it on the ballot, which is also a strong possibility.”

Before the referendum makes it to the ballot, it would need to overcome some obstacles, including many board members’ opposition to the idea. If a petition gained enough signatures — between 850 and 900 — those board members might change their mind, Ivers said.

A political realignment makes sense after much of the state voted for former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Ivers said. Only 13 Illinois counties voted Republican — eight of them in the Chicago area — but the Chicago region’s voter turnout was enough to give the state’s electoral votes to Biden.

Ivers’ proposal has been tabled by the Jersey County board.

Donald Little, the board’s chairman, said he has found no legal process by which a county can disassociate itself from one state and associate itself with another.

“I don’t think it’s a practical idea nor do I think there is a practical process of doing it,” Little said.

Little is waiting for further details on the proposal, he said. The board then will consider those details in deciding how to move forward, he said.

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Jersey floats idea of leaving Illinois, becoming part of Missouri - Jacksonville Journal-Courier
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