Protect Marriage Illinois has been circulating petitions to put an advisory referendum on the ballot in Illinois this fall. If they succeed, voters would be asked if the General Assembly should propose an amendment to the state constitution that reads "To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as marriage or similar union for any purpose." PMI needs 270,000 signatures to get on the ballot, but Joetta Deutsch, a Taylorville resident and board member for Protect Marriage Illinois declined tell the Springfield Journal-Register how many signatures they have. She did say that they are shooting for 300,000, in case some signatures are invalidated. “If we don’t get it on the November ballot, we’ll start over again, probably in November,” she said. more ›