Bipartisan Vote Defeats Problematic Recall Proposal

The Sangamon County Board rejected a proposal Tuesday that would have asked voters whether Sangamon County should establish a process to recall countywide elected officials before the end of their terms.

The measure, brought forward by outgoing Democratic County Board Member Sam Cahnman, failed on a bipartisan 19-6 vote. Cahnman has pushed for a recall process in Sangamon County since 2024 and had sought to place a binding referendum on the November ballot that would allow voters to decide whether the county should establish recall procedures.

Sangamon County is a non-home-rule unit of government, and county officials have said state law does not give the county authority to establish a recall process for its elected officials. The Illinois State Board of Elections has also said state law does not explicitly provide counties with recall authority, raising questions about whether such a process could be created without action by the Illinois General Assembly.

Under Cahnman's proposal, the recall process could apply to the county sheriff, auditor, clerk, treasurer and members of the County Board.

Tuesday's vote was the latest in a series of attempts to establish recall authority in Sangamon County. Cahnman first pursued the issue following the July 2024 killing of Sonya Massey by then-Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson. Former Sheriff Jack Campbell faced calls to resign following the shooting and ultimately stepped down at the end of August 2024.

Legal questions have remained central to the debate over whether Sangamon County has the authority to establish recall elections without action by the Illinois General Assembly.

Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson Matt Dietrich has previously said state law may allow municipalities to establish recall elections but does not provide the same authority to county governments for county elected officials. He has also said state law does not explicitly address whether counties can recall local elected officials.

The issue was also reviewed by the Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office during Cahnman's earlier effort. Assistant State's Attorney Joel Benoit told the County Board's Election Oversight Committee at a December 2024 special meeting that the Illinois Constitution does not give Sangamon County, as a non-home-rule unit of government, the authority to establish recall.

Scott Szala, a University of Illinois law professor who spoke at the same meeting at Benoit's request, also discussed the conflicting legal interpretations. Szala warned that establishing recall could result in litigation.

Cahnman has disputed that interpretation. He has cited a 2016 Illinois Appellate Court ruling that he argues gives counties the authority to establish recall through referendum. He has also pointed to Illinois municipalities including Buffalo Grove, Wheeling and Arlington Heights that have established recall procedures for local officials. Unlike Sangamon County, however, those examples involve municipal governments rather than county governments.

Separate from his efforts before the County Board, Cahnman has been circulating a petition seeking to place a recall question on the ballot without County Board approval. The petition requires signatures from registered Sangamon County voters equal to 8% of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election, which Cahnman's campaign calculated at 6,359 signatures.

Cahnman faced an Aug. 3 deadline to collect the required signatures for the November 2026 ballot. He claims to have reached the deadline with approximately 3,000 signatures, well short of the 6,359 required to place the question on the November ballot. 

The 19-6 bipartisan vote effectively ended Cahnman's latest effort to place a county recall question on the November ballot