Chicago Politics

Unanimous vs. divided: how often the Chicago City Council agrees

Of 1,225 key roll calls this term, 1,132 (92.4%) were unanimous and 93 were divided, with at least one no vote. 9 failed.

Unanimous vs. divided roll calls
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By year

YearRoll callsUnanimousDividedShare divided
19001100%
20213300%
2023187171169%
2024356331257%
2025318296227%
2026360330308%

Where the splits come from

The committee that sent each divided item to the floor.

CommitteeDividedRoll callsShare divided
Finance3122814%
Budget and Government Operations84617%
Workforce Development72133%
Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards71266%
License and Consumer Protection73642%
Committees and Rules6967%
Housing and Real Estate51374%
Pedestrian and Traffic Safety42516%
Ethics and Government Oversight3743%
Public Safety31916%
Health and Human Relations32413%
Transportation and Public Way2435%
Economic, Capital and Technology Development2902%
Joint Committee: Finance; Housing and Real Estate11100%
Contracting Oversight and Equity1813%
Immigrant and Refugee Rights1813%
Police and Fire1119%
Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation1254%

The closest votes

Failed

Every divided roll call

More insights

  • Stuck in committee: Where legislation goes to die: items waiting in committee for more than a year, by committee and chair.
  • Lone dissents: Roll calls where one alderperson was the only no vote, and which votes they were.
  • Attendance ranking: Every alderperson ranked by attendance on key roll calls, with the meetings they missed.
  • Closest allies: Who votes together and who votes apart on divided roll calls, for every pair of alderpersons.
  • The Mayor's legislation: How the Mayor's legislation fared on the floor: passed, divided, failed, and still waiting.
  • Unanimous vs. divided: How often the Council votes as one, how often it splits, and on what.

Sources and methods: how we get and count this data · report an error