Bill Text: IL HB0040 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941. Establishes a procedure for a special recall election to recall the Mayor of Chicago and the election of a successor mayor at a special successor election or special runoff election. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-02-21 - State Mandates Fiscal Note Requested by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford [HB0040 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB0040-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB0040 Introduced , by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
65 ILCS 20/21-24.5 new
Amends the Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941. Establishes a procedure for a special recall election to recall the Mayor of Chicago and the election of a successor mayor at a special successor election or special runoff election. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941 is
amended by adding Section 21-24.5 as follows:
(65 ILCS 20/21-24.5 new)
Sec. 21-24.5. Recall election; Mayor of Chicago.
(a) The recall of the Mayor of Chicago may be proposed by a
petition signed by a number of electors equal in number to at
least 15% of the total votes cast for Mayor in the preceding
election at which the Mayor was elected, with at least 50
signatures from each ward. A petition must be signed by the
petitioning electors not more than 150 days after an affidavit
has been filed with the board of election commissioners
providing notice of intent to circulate a petition to recall
the Mayor. The affidavit may be filed no sooner than 6 months
after the beginning of the Mayor's term of office. The
affidavit must be signed by the proponent of the recall
petition and at least 2 aldermen.
(b) The form of the petition, circulation, and procedure
for determining the validity and sufficiency of a petition
shall be as provided by law. If the petition is valid and
sufficient, the board of election commissioners shall certify

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the petition not more than 100 days after the date the petition
was filed, and the question "Shall (name) be recalled from the
office of Mayor?" must be submitted to the electors at a
special recall election called by the board of election
commissioners and to occur not more than 100 days after
certification of the petition. A recall petition certified by
the board of election commissioners may not be withdrawn. If a
recall petition has been certified by the board of election
commissioners, then another recall petition may not be
initiated against the Mayor during the remainder of the
current term of office of the Mayor. Any recall petition or
recall election pending on the date of the next election at
which a candidate for Mayor is elected is void.
The Mayor is immediately removed upon certification of the
special recall election results if a majority of the electors
voting on the question vote to recall the Mayor. If the Mayor
is removed, then (i) the Vice Mayor shall serve as Mayor until
the Mayor elected at the special successor election or special
runoff election is qualified and (ii) the candidate who
receives a majority of votes under subsection (c) in the
special successor election or the candidate who receives the
highest number of votes in the special runoff election is
elected Mayor for the balance of the term.
(c) If a petition to recall the Mayor has been filed with
the board of election commissioners, a person eligible to
serve as Mayor may propose his or her candidacy for the special

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successor election by a successor candidate petition signed by
at least 12,500 legal voters of the City, not more than 50 days
after a recall petition has been filed with the board of
election commissioners. All successor candidate petitions and
procedure with respect to the petitions shall conform in other
respects to the provisions of the election and ballot laws
then in force in the City of Chicago concerning the nomination
of independent candidates for public office by petition. If
the successor candidate petition is valid and sufficient, the
board of election commissioners shall certify the petition not
more than 100 days after the date the petition to recall the
Mayor was filed.
If the Mayor is removed by the special recall election
under subsection (b), the names of candidates for Mayor whose
successor candidate petitions were certified by the board of
election commissions must be submitted to the electors at a
special successor election called by the board of election
commissioners to be held 60 days after the special recall
election. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in
the special successor election, a special runoff election
shall be held no later than 60 days after the special successor
election, and only the names of the candidates receiving the
highest and second highest number of votes at the special
successor election shall appear on the ballot.
If more than one candidate received the highest or second
highest number of votes at the special successor election, the

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names of all candidates receiving the highest and second
highest number of votes shall appear on the ballot at the
special runoff election. The candidate receiving the highest
number of votes at the special runoff election shall be
declared elected.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.