Illinois has a history of criminal governors.

So next Tuesday, an amendment will be on the ballot that will supposedly allow voters to change that by giving them the power to remove a governor from office.

If the amendment to the state constitution passes, voters would be able to recall the governor by a petition.

As it stands, the proposal requires at least 20 state representatives and 10 state senators, equally balanced from each party in each chamber, to sign a notice of intent to recall the governor before a petition may be circulated.

Sixty percent of voters on Tuesday must approve the measure for it to be adopted.

The amendment passed through the House on May 2009 and the Senate October 2009.

The Illinois Governor Recall Amendment, officially known as House Joint Constitutional Amendment 31, is obviously a response to the string of Illinois governors who have been convicted of felonies, the most recent of course being Rod Blagojevich.

Illinois is not unique in giving the people this power. Oregon was the first state to give voters the power to back in 1908. Minnesota was the last state to adopt the amendment in 1996.

While 18 states currently have the power to recall a governor by petition, it has only been applied twice: in North Dakota in 1921 and in California in 2003.

Both Gov. Quinn and the gubernatorial candidate Billy Brady support the amendment, but voters across the state are not quite as sure. This just seems like a safeguard method against something that should not have happened in the first place.

What’s wrong with the current method?

It seemed to work when we impeached Blagojevich back in 2009.

It seems like now Illinois politicians are doing something they are great at: doing something just for the sake of doing something.

Rather than focusing on punishing potential criminal governors, next Tuesday why don’t we focus on voting in a governor who does not enjoy committing felonies?

If this amendment passes, the petition must then signed by 15 percent of voters from the preceding election

The problem is, could enough signatures be obtained quickly enough to be effective in removing an inefficient governor?

And if enough voters signed the petition, the cost of a recall election would only serve to further the Illinois debt.

But the true test is if both parties could ever actually agree and vote

Illinois politics have become a joke, and I will not contribute to the comedy show by voting “NO” on the ballot.

Emily Steele is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-7942 or

[email protected].