Free Speech and Palestine Are on the Ballot in Eight Illinois Communities. Vote Yes.
Illinois, Tuesday, November 3, 2026 —
In eight Illinois communities, voters will answer a question at the end of their ballot: should Illinois repeal its law penalizing companies that boycott Israel? Residents put it there, by petition and by vote at their April township meetings earlier this year. Now they need your “yes” vote.
What Is Illinois's Anti-Boycott Law?
In 2015, Gov. Rauner signed a law making Illinois the first state to punish companies for choosing not to do business with Israel. The law directs the Illinois Investment Policy Board (IIPB) to blacklist companies that boycott Israel. Illinois public pension funds, which hold the retirement savings of teachers, state workers, and public employees, must then divest from those companies.
Why Vote Yes?
Illinois pensions shouldn't fund human rights abuses. Illinois is going to unprecedented lengths to protect a government whose war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and injured more than 172,000, more than a quarter of them children. Israel maintains an apartheid system upheld through mass imprisonment, torture, and the targeted killing of children, journalists, and medical workers, and carries out ethnic cleansing through destroyed infrastructure and illegal land seizures. Half of U.S. voters say Israel is committing genocide, and Illinois pensions shouldn't pay for it.
The right to boycott is a core American freedom. From the Boston Tea Party to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, boycotts have driven change in this country. The U.S. Supreme Court has protected them as free speech since NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware (1982).
Illinois families are paying the price. Independent analysis estimates Illinois pension funds have lost $90–215 million in returns, and a pension researcher told lawmakers that restrictions like this one raise costs for taxpayers. As war expands across the region, Illinois gas prices have risen more than $1.40 a gallon and diesel has hit record highs. Illinois families are paying for foreign policy decisions they never supported.
Businesses should be free from political interference. The board has pressured Ben & Jerry's parent company Unilever and Chicago-based Morningstar, as well as Airbnb and Adidas.
The board answers to no one. The IIPB has no oversight, no audits, and no appeals process, and it recently declined to appear at a legislative hearing about its own conduct.
Why Is This on My Ballot?
The Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act (HB 2723 / SB 2462), led by Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid and Sen. Mike Porfirio, alongside the Illinois Coalition for Human Rights, would repeal the 2015 law and abolish the IIPB. The bill has more than 30 co-sponsors across both chambers, but it is stuck in the Rules Committee without a floor vote.
Illinois voters can't repeal a law directly, but they can place an advisory question on their local ballot to show elected officials where their constituents stand. Eight communities have done just that.
This question is advisory. A Yes vote creates a certified election result that tells Springfield where Illinois communities stand. Learn more: HB 2723 Fact Sheet
Is It on My Ballot? Here's What It Says
How to Vote Yes Early or on November 3rd