The ruling means votes on the referendum question will be counted, though it is possible the real estate and business coalition that fought the suit could appeal to the state Supreme Court.
In a victory for advocates for homeless people and Mayor Brandon Johnson, a state Appellate Court Wednesday ruled the Bring Chicago Home referendum question is valid, overturning a lower court’s order with less than two weeks until the March 19 primary.
The complaint from business groups is “premature,” the ruling continued, and the Circuit Court “committed an abuse of discretion” when it didn’t allow Johnson’s administration to intervene in court. On Feb. 23, Cook County Circuit Judge Kathleen Burke found in BOMA’s favor and invalidated the question. She also denied an attempt from Johnson’s administration to intervene in the case and mandated that the board of elections “suppress the vote,” meaning while the question remained on ballots, they would not be counted or reported out.
Buttons and posters at a gathering of Bring Chicago Home supporters are laid out at Build Coffee coffee shop on Feb. 25, 2024. The court also included a note of caution: “We have decided this case exercising our best judgment in strict accordance with the law. Nothing in this decision is intended to suggest that we have any opinion one way or the other on the merits of the referendum at issue. That is a question wisely entrusted not to judges but to the people of the city of Chicago.”
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