The pedestrian tunnel referendum was not the only one on the ballot for local residents. All Cook County residents were asked to vote on advisory referendums calling for an immediate, orderly withdrawal of troops from Iraq, tougher gun control measures and a higher minimum wage.
In Riverside Township, which includes Riverside and parts of Brookfield and North Riverside, residents were asked to vote on the Iraq referendum twice-in response to both the county's question and the one placed on the ballot in Riverside Township by anti-war residents, who voted to include it on the ballot at the township's annual meeting last spring.
The results? Riverside Township residents want out of Iraq-mirroring the sentiment across Cook County-and the solid majority of Cook County residents want tougher gun control and a higher minimum wage.
As advisory referendums, the results of the vote are not binding.
By late Wednesday afternoon, with 90 percent of county precincts reporting, 65 percent of voters said "yes" on the countywide referendum to "immediately begin an orderly and rapid withdrawal of all its military personnel from Iraq, beginning with the National Guard and reserves."
Voters in Riverside Township nearly matched the countywide result vote for vote. By late Wednesday, with 18 of 19 precincts counted, about 62 percent of voters had voted "yes" to the township referendum on troop withdrawal.
Laurel Lambert-Schmidt, a Riverside resident and member of Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice, was one of the voters who attended the Riverside Township annual meeting to get the question on the ballot.
"Foremost in voters' minds when they went to the polls on Tuesday was the debacle of our policy in Iraq," Lambert-Schmidt said.
Other Near West Citizens members were able to get the question on the ballot in Berwyn Township as well. In Berwyn, the measure received the support of 71 percent of voters. The group failed in its bid to get the question on the ballot in Proviso Township and Stickney Township.
"This has to send a real strong message to Congressman [Dan] Lipinski to work with the new House and Senate leadership to get out of Iraq as soon as possible," Lambert-Schmidt said.
Cook County voters passed Advisory Referendum 1, which asks the Illinois legislature to pass a comprehensive ban on the sale, delivery and possession of assault weapons and .50-caliber sniper rifles. The referendum passed by 84 percent, according to Cook County's Election Department Web site.
Jennifer Bishop, Illinois field director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which supported the referendum, said the campaign was "enormously gratified" by the county's "unprecedented" response. Because Cook County represents suburban as well as urban voters, Bishop said, the referendum is a mandate for state legislators to pass an assault-weapons ban that stalled in the state senate last spring.
"Now, any legislator who votes against the ban is not listening to the desires of the people of Illinois," Bishop said. "Loud and clear, the numbers are saying these assault weapons do not belong in civilian hands."
Cook County Voters also passed Advisory Referendum 2, which asks legislators to increase the minimum wage for Illinois workers from $6.50 to $7.50 in 2007.
