Hawkins
Voters in East St. Louis resoundingly rejected a call for disbanding the city's election board.
With all precincts reporting, a referendum that sought to reject the city's election law went down to defeat by a margin of 69 to 31 percent.
A total of 3,359 voters said "No" to 1,503 voters who said "Yes" on the question.
Matt Hawkins, president of the East St. Louis Alliance for Change, was the leading proponent of the measure.
He had said he would be watching the vote counting closely to be sure that it was conducted fairly.
He had cited a conflict of interest in having the East St. Louis Board of Elections administer an election that could determine its fate.