Illinois Term Limits Group Likely Has Signatures

A group trying to impose term limits on state legislators says it gathered enough valid signatures to get on the November ballot.

State elections officials spent days vetting thousands of petitions. The group, calling itself Term Limits and Reform, gathered almost 600,000 signatures - nearly twice the number needed to get on the ballot.

The State Board of Elections then checked a random sample of five percent, looking for duplicates and to make sure the signers are registered voters.

It found a validity rate of just over 61 percent, and will submit that to the full Board for approval later this month.

Mark Campbell is director of the term limits group.

"We are very, very pleased," he said.  "And we think it's great the voters are going to get a chance to vote in November on term limits."

But that's not a sure thing yet. The term limits initiative would also significantly cut the size of the state Senate and make it harder to override a gubernatorial veto.

A lawsuit says this kind of referendum is not permitted under the Illinois Constitution.

That case is expected to eventually have to be decided by the Illinois Supreme Court.