Madison County voters have solidly rejected judicial gerrymandering of the local court system, by a margin of 86-14%.
To the question: "Should all Madison County voters have the right to vote for each Madison County Circuit Judge, instead of only being allowed to vote if they reside in a politically-gerrymandered subcircuit of the county created by the General Assembly in Springfield," 82,018 voters said "yes."
"No" votes stood at 11,679.
The controversial judicial subcircuit law passed in January prevented two-thirds of the county's electorate from voting on three judicial vacancies this year.
It was passed late at night by the General Assembly on Jan. 5, without public hearing.
Boundaries of the county's three subcircuits were drawn to give Democrat judicial candidates an advantage by concentrating as many Democratic voters into Subcircuit 1 - where the election was decided. The law also gerrymandered boundaries so the residences of the Democrat candidates were within Subcircuit 1, while also simultaenously placing two declared judicial candidates, Circuit Judges Christopher Threlkeld and Amy Sholar, at a disadvantage by drawing them out of Subcircuit 1.
In spite of the judicial redistricting law, the three Republican candidates - Threlkeld, Sholar and attorney Tim Berkley defeated their counterparts attorneys Barry Julian and Ebony Huddleston and Associate Judge Ryan Jumper.