Note to Visitors: This site used to reside at noatlarge.org, and was the website for a successful campaign against a ballot measure in Urbana, IL that would have added at-large seats to the Urbana City Council. This site contains a wealth of research on the subject of at-large elections, including literature research, debate recordings, and other materials. It also serves as a historic record of the campaign. For these reasons, I've decided to leave it up indefinitely. If you have any questions, and/or are working on a similar campaign, please .

You did it!  Urbana voted "NO" to at-large by a resounding margin — 63% to 37%. In fact, we defeated at-large in 20 out of 23 Urbana precincts. This is very similar to the last at-large referendum in Urbana, when the voters overwhelmingly converted the school board from at-large to districts. That vote passed in 21 out of 23 precincts.

The Urbana City Council will retain its current structure with seven members elected from equal-sized wards as afforded by the U.S. Constitution to give each resident of Urbana an equal voice in government. Results are available at the clerk's website.

We would like to sincerely thank each and every one of our supporters for all of the hard work. It was an intense and busy campaign, and we could not have done it without every single contribution of time, effort, and money.

In the November election, Urbana residents will vote on whether to add 2 at-large seats to the City Council—electing these council members citywide rather than from individual wards.

Voting NO on At-Large is Endorsed by:

• NAACP
  
• Democratic Party
  
• UIUC College Democrats
  
• Graduate Employees Organization (GEO)
  
• Independent Voters of Illinois
  
• UCAN—King School/Crystal Lake Park neighborhood association
  
• 30 current and former elected officials, and more
  

Adding at-large is the wrong direction

The removal of at-large seats from city councils all over the U.S. has been one of the most considered and approved changes to the structure of government for the last 15 years.1 In our own neighborhood:

• Springfield removed at-large in 1987 when legal action forced the city to comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Attorney Frank McNeil became the first African-American elected since 1911.
• Danville eliminated at-large in 1987. Prior to that time, no women or minorities had served on the City Commission. Since then, 5 African-American men, 8 women, a Hispanic, a person of American Indian heritage, and a African-American female City Treasurer have all been elected.
• The Cook County Board eliminated at-large seats in a 1990 voter referendum.
• Urbana voters, in a 1998 referendum, eliminated at-large seats from the Urbana School Board.

Don't turn back the clock

Urbana is a forward-thinking community—let's not return to a regressive form of government. The Nov. 2 vote will be binding, and its effects will be felt for many years to come. Let's defeat at-large in Urbana—again.

Vote this Tuesday!

1 The Municipal Year Book 2004. International City County Management Association, Washington, DC.