In an election year dominated by the rallying cry of change, an unlikely coalition of some of the state’s most powerful special interests will spend $3 million urging voters to stick with the status quo.

The Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution is asking for a “no” vote on one of the most important issues on the November ballot: whether there should be a constitutional convention to make changes to the state’s 1970 governing document.

Every 20 years, the constitution requires that voters be asked whether the document should be rewritten. Sixty percent of the voters must approve the question for a convention to be called. In 1988—a time of more civil political discourse—75 percent of voters opposed a convention.