1970 Illinois elections

A special election was held to fill the remainder of the term of Republican Everett Dirksen, who had died in office. Republican Ralph Tyler Smith had been appointed to fill the seat after Dirksen's death, and he lost the special election to Democrat Adlai Stevenson III.

All 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1970.

1970 Illinois State Treasurer election

November 3, 1970

Nominee Alan J. Dixon Edmund J. Kucharski Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,772,209 1,683,437 Percentage 50.96% 48.41%

Treasurer before election Adlai Stevenson III Democratic Elected Treasurer Alan J. Dixon Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer Adlai Stevenson III, a Democrat, did not seek a second term, instead opting to run for United States Senate. Democrat Alan J. Dixon was elected to succeed him in office.

Since Adlai Stevenson III assumed his U.S. Senate office November 17, due to the nature of it being a special election, there was a brief vacancy in the treasurer's office before Dixon would assume office. Therefore, Governor Richard B. Ogilvie appointed Republican Charles W. Woodford to serve as treasurer from November 17 until Dixon took office on January 3.

1970 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election

November 3, 1970

Nominee Michael Bakalis Ray Page Party Democratic Republican

Superintendent before election Ray Page Republican Elected Superintendent Michael Bakalis Democratic

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Ray Page, a Republican seeking a third term, was defeated by Democrat Michael Bakalis.

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1970. While there was a 29-29 member split in the chamber after the election, Democrats flipped control of the chamber since there was a Democratic lieutenant governor (Paul Simon).

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1970. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

An at-large election using cumulative voting was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.

The election saw the election new members William D. Forsyth Jr., George W. Howard III, and Earl Langdon Neal.[4]

Three legislatively referred constitutional amendments were on the ballot on November 3, proposing amendments to the existing 1870 Constitution of Illinois. In order to be placed on the ballot, legislatively referred constitutional amendments needed to be approved by two-thirds of each house of the Illinois General Assembly.[5] In order to be approved, they required votes equal to a majority of those who voted in the 1970 elections, or two thirds of those voting specifically on the measure.

The Ad Valorem Tax Prohibition Amendment, also known as "Amendment 1", prohibited the taxation of personal property by valuation.[6]

The Illinois Anti-Pollution Amendment, also known as "Amendment 2", approved the Anti-pollution Bond Act.[7]

The Illinois Banking Act Amendment, also known as "Amendment 3", enabled state chartered banks to have the same powers as national banks.[8]

A December 15 special election was held in which the proposed 1970 Constitution of Illinois itself was up for election, as were several constitutional convention referral items. The constitutional convention referral items would only take effect if the new constitution itself was approved.

The Illinois Appoint All Judges Amendment was a ballot question which asked voters whether judges should be appointed by the governor from a list of nominees or elected by the people.[9]

Illinois voters voted on whether or not the state would adopt the 1970 Constitution of Illinois.[1]

The Illinois Death Penalty Amendment proposed abolishing the death penalty in Illinois.[11] It was defeated.[11]

The Illinois State Representation Amendment was a ballot question which asked voters whether they wished to retain multi-member districts in the state legislature of switch to single-member districts.[9]

The Illinois Voting Age Amendment proposed lowering the age of suffrage to 18.[12] It was defeated.[12]