Annual Town Meetings Throughout Illinois Tuesday Night

Townships across Illinois are holding their annual town meetings Tuesday night. Illinois law requires that the meeting be held on the 2nd Tuesday in April, no earlier than 6 PM.

The meetings provide voters of the township with the opportunity to participate directly in township government. In their role as "electors", registered voters can vote directly on township business.

In some parts of New England, the annual town meetings are major affairs, with local voters attending some meetings by the hundreds. But in Illinois, town meetings are often poorly attended, with little real business conducted.

In recent years, some voters in Champaign and Urbana have used the annual town meetings to place non-binding referenda on election ballots, to promote various causes. These referenda have touched on topics from the Iraq War to local township relief.

But this year, there are no proposed referenda on the agenda in either Champaign or Urbana.

In Urbana, the Cunningham Township annual town meeting begins at 6 PM at the Urbana City Council Chambers. In Champaign, the City of Champaign Township annual town meeting starts at 7 PM, in the Champaign City Council chamber.