Western Springs Marijuana Referendum Results: A Rare Rejection

Updated as of 9:01 a.m. Wednesday.

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Voters in four Cook County towns supported recreational marijuana in Tuesday's election. However, 61 percent of Western Springs voters rejected that idea in an advisory referendum Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

The returns show that 3,465 people opposed marijuana sales and 2,258 were for.

In the four other Cook County towns, voters supported recreational marijuana sales by big margins — Mount Prospect (63 percent), Elk Grove Village (68 percent), Park Ridge (59 percent) and Wilmette (55 percent), according to unofficial returns. In Glen Ellyn, 51 percent of voters approved recreational marijuana.

Return to Western Springs Patch for results as they come in. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results.

In fall 2019, the Village Board adopted a temporary moratorium on recreational marijuana while the village studied the issue. Over the summer, the board decided to put an advisory question on the ballot, asking local voters whether the village should allow businesses selling recreational marijuana.

At last week's board meeting, Village President Alice Gallagher noted the referendum.

"Because the legal use and sale of recreational marijuana is such a novel issue for our state and in our village, the board opted to place it in the general election to obtain guidance from our residents to the greatest extent possible," Gallagher said.

The referendum's outcome is not binding on the Village Board.

Many western suburbs, including Elmhurst and La Grange, have banned the sale of recreational marijuana. Darien, however, allows it, although no such businesses have set up there.

A deluge of mail-in votes cast this election amid the coronavirus pandemic — many of which were not be counted Tuesday — makes this election unlike any in the past. Officials have two weeks post-election to count all provisional votes.

Check other key Illinois election results:

Election Results 2020: Illinois Races To Watch