Mayor Brandon Johnson rallies supporters of the proposal known as Bring Chicago Home on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

After 12,634 mail-in ballots were counted by Chicago election officials late Friday, the results were essentially unchanged. Approximately 53% of voters rejected Ballot Question No. 1, better known as Bring Chicago Home, according to unofficial totals.

(WTTW News)

The mayor has touted the proposal as a fulfillment of a promise he made during the 2023 campaign to make Chicago a more equitable place to live by “investing in people” and expanding the city’s economic capacity — without raising taxes on Chicago property owners.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at a news conference Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (WTTW News)

“No one said it was going to be easy,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “I’m very much committed. The fight still goes on. We’re going to keep organizing.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson rallies supporters of the proposal known as Bring Chicago Home on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

The last time Chicago voters passed a binding referendum that applied to the entire city was 1885, when they voted to create the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, according to city records.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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The Chicago City Council is set to consider paying $45 million to resolve a lawsuit that alleges an unauthorized chase left a 15-year-old boy with a traumatic brain injury, unable to walk or talk.

Mayor Brandon Johnson takes questions at a March 13, 2024, news conference at the Garfield Park fieldhouse. (WTTW News)

“This has been a situation that has gotten increasingly out of control,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said about the massive bills for police overtime. “The superintendent and I, we both agree on that.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson rallies supporters of the proposal known as Bring Chicago Home on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

With three of the seven justices abstaining, the state’s highest court rejected an appeal from a coalition of real estate and development groups that sued the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to knock the ballot measure off Tuesday’s ballot.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

The Chicago Police Department spent $293 million on overtime last year, 40% more than in 2022 and nearly three times the $100 million earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News.

A homeless encampment in Humboldt Park. (WTTW News)

A coalition of the real estate and development groups asked the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court ruling that overturned a decision by Cook County Judge Kathleen Burke that blocked the Chicago Board of Elections from counting votes for and against the proposal, known as Bring Chicago Home.

Mayor Brandon Johnson rallies supporters of the proposal known as Bring Chicago Home on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Appellate Court unanimously overturned the Feb. 23 decision by a Cook County judge that invalidated the binding ballot question known as Bring Chicago Home. The ruling could still be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Chicago Police Department Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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The Chicago Police Department has fully met just 6% of the consent decree’s requirements, according to the most recent report by the team monitoring CPD’s progress.

(WTTW News)
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Wrongful convictions have long been the most expensive kind of police misconduct in Chicago, costing taxpayers $29.25 million in 2024, or nearly 40% of the total amount spent to resolve allegations of police misconduct, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

A homeless encampment in Humboldt Park. (WTTW News)

The proposal known as Bring Chicago Home will remain on the ballot, but the results will not be tallied and reported unless the judge’s decision is overturned by a state appeals court.

(WTTW News)

The proposal, now in the hands of the Chicago City Council, would phase out the city’s decades-long reliance on tax-increment financing districts and reshape the way Chicago uses its financial resources to spur redevelopment and eradicate blight.

Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Heather Cherone/WTTW)
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“I’m going to spend all that money, I can assure you of that,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Chicago spent less than $160 million on a host of programs including affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans through Dec. 31, 2023, according to reports to the federal government.