“The fact is that local officials who are not doing the right thing are the ones who are going to be responsible for the rates of infection going through the roof, and our hospitals getting overrun and people are dying if they don’t enforce the rules,” Pritzker said during his daily briefing in Chicago. “That is why those rules exist.”

State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said he believes the “vast majority” of remaining vote-by-mail ballots will be delivered within three to five days. But it’ll be up to local election authorities to decide how and when they want to post updated results.

“But after more than $100 million in spending from both sides, the rate issue seemed to be secondary to the greater, theoretical issue on the ballot: trust.”

“We’re trying to give a lifeline to our restaurants and get the numbers down within the framework of the governor’s orders,” Van Meter said at a news conference at the Sangamon County Department of Public Health Tuesday. “We fully understand that if we fail in this effort, additional mitigation will be implemented swiftly.”

A republication of our Wirepoints article.

To pass, the ballot measure would need support from 60 percent of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election.

But that could also bring in budget cuts, which SIU policy expert John Jackson says could be a blow for Illinoisans. “The cuts would have to be so widespread. It would have to be serious enough that services that people depend on everyday will be impacted.”

“It’s truly a laboratory of democracy in the upper Midwest,” said Eric Bott, director of Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin. “States that have enacted pro-growth like Wisconsin and Indiana have been booming. States like Illinois have dug the hole deeper for themselves.”

Non-compliance wasn’t limited to Champaign County. The Douglas County Health Department already had seven complaints about defiance of the state order for bars and restaurants by lunchtime Monday, according to spokeswoman Summer Phillips. “I’ve forwarded those to our health inspector to have him look into tomorrow.”

Mayor Jim Ardis said the city, including the police department, does not have the resources to investigate and enforce possible violations of the order. However, he said, the Illinois State Police could intervene. “We shouldn’t give businesses a false sense of security that the state won’t come in and enforce the governor’s (executive order) and potentially revoke their liquor and gaming licenses.”

Feinerman ruled in the plaintiff’s favor in two key ways. First, the ruling immediately stops implementation of the extended definition of the public charge rule. Second, it allows the plaintiffs to pursue their claim that the rule is discriminatory because it favors white immigrants, said Militza Pagan, an attorney with the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, which is representing the plaintiffs.