1970 Illinois elections

Turnout in the primary election was 29.88%, with a total of 1,570,317 ballots cast. 819,692 Democratic and 750,625 Republican primary ballots were cast.[1]

Turnout during the general election was 69.90%, with 3,731,006 ballots cast.[1]

2,017,717 people cast ballots in the December 15 special election regarding the proposed new Illinois constitution.[1]

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.

No seats switched parties, so the party composition of Illinois' House delegation remained 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

1970 Illinois State Treasurer election

November 3, 1970
Turnout	65.15%[1]
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
Turnout	64.90%[1]
Nominee Michael Bakalis Ray Page Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,957,262 1,483,901 Percentage 56.50% 42.84%
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.

Elections were held to elect Trustees of University of Illinois system. This included a regularly-scheduled election of three seats, and a special election to fill a vacancy.

The regular to fill three seats saw the election new Democratic members William D. Forsyth Jr., George W. Howard III, and Earl L. Neal.[1][4]

Incumbent Republican Earl Edwin Walker (appointed in 1970) was not reelected.[1][4] Incumbent Republican W. Clement Stone (appointed in 1969 to replace Harold Pogue following his death in office) lost reelection, running in the regular election instead of the special election to fill Pogue's seat.[1][4] Second-term Democratic incumbent Howard W. Clement was not renominated. Also not renominated was Democrat Theodore A. Jones (who had been appointed in 1963, and thereafter reelected in 1964)[1][4]

Democrat Roger B. Pogue defeated Republican educator and Illinois State Representative Frances L. Dawson in the special election to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired term. Despite losing in the popular vote, Dawson placed first in 64 counties, while Pogue placed first in 38.[1]

Incumbent Republican W. Clement Stone (appointed in 1969 to replace Harold Pogue, whose seat this had been, after his death in office), did not run in this election, instead running in the regular election for a full term.[1][4]

Turnout for the special election was 60.87%.[1]

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1970.[1]

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 constitution and all amendments to amend it were required to be approved by at least half of all those casting ballots in the election.[1]

2,017,717 people cast ballots.[1]

Illinois voters voted on whether or not the state would adopt the 1970 Constitution of Illinois.[1][2]

The 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.[10]

The 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.[10]

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