Bill Text: IL HB4809 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Election Code. Provides for various changes concerning requirements for petitions for proposed constitutional amendments. Provides requirements for petition sheets for proposed constitutional amendments. Provides for the design of a standard and scientific random sampling method for the verification of petition signatures for proposed constitutional amendments, and for the adoption of rules of procedure for the petition filing process. Modifies the requirements following completion of the petition signature verification process. Provides that each political party and civic organization as well as the registered proponents and opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment shall be entitled to observe the conduct of the sample signature verification and participate in any related proceedings. Modifies the duties of the State Board of Elections concerning petitions for proposed constitutional amendments. Makes conforming and other changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB4809 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB4809-Introduced.html

---

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 HB4809 Introduced , by Rep. Mike Fortner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
10 ILCS 5/10-10 from Ch. 46, par. 10-10
10 ILCS 5/28-9 from Ch. 46, par. 28-9
10 ILCS 5/28-11 from Ch. 46, par. 28-11
10 ILCS 5/28-12 from Ch. 46, par. 28-12
10 ILCS 5/28-13 from Ch. 46, par. 28-13
Amends the Election Code. Provides for various changes concerning requirements for petitions for proposed constitutional amendments. Provides requirements for petition sheets for proposed constitutional amendments. Provides for the design of a standard and scientific random sampling method for the verification of petition signatures for proposed constitutional amendments, and for the adoption of rules of procedure for the petition filing process. Modifies the requirements following completion of the petition signature verification process. Provides that each political party and civic organization as well as the registered proponents and opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment shall be entitled to observe the conduct of the sample signature verification and participate in any related proceedings. Modifies the duties of the State Board of Elections concerning petitions for proposed constitutional amendments. Makes conforming and other changes. Effective immediately.
LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
A BILL FOR
HB4809 LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
AN ACT concerning elections.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
Sections 10-10, 28-9, 28-11, 28-12, and 28-13 as follows:
(10 ILCS 5/10-10) (from Ch. 46, par. 10-10)
Sec. 10-10. Within 24 hours after the receipt of the
certificate of nomination or nomination papers or proposed
question of public policy, as the case may be, and the
objector's petition, the chairman of the electoral board other
than the State Board of Elections shall send a call by
registered or certified mail to each of the members of the
electoral board, and to the objector who filed the objector's
petition, and either to the candidate whose certificate of
nomination or nomination papers are objected to or to the
principal proponent or attorney for proponents of a question of
public policy, as the case may be, whose petitions are objected
to, and shall also cause the sheriff of the county or counties
in which such officers and persons reside to serve a copy of
such call upon each of such officers and persons, which call
shall set out the fact that the electoral board is required to
meet to hear and pass upon the objections to nominations made
for the office, designating it, and shall state the day, hour

HB4809 - 2 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
and place at which the electoral board shall meet for the
purpose, which place shall be in the county court house in the
county in the case of the County Officers Electoral Board, the
Municipal Officers Electoral Board, the Township Officers
Electoral Board or the Education Officers Electoral Board,
except that the Municipal Officers Electoral Board, the
Township Officers Electoral Board, and the Education Officers
Electoral Board may meet at the location where the governing
body of the municipality, township, or community college
district, respectively, holds its regularly scheduled
meetings, if that location is available; provided that voter
records may be removed from the offices of an election
authority only at the discretion and under the supervision of
the election authority. In those cases where the State Board of
Elections is the electoral board designated under Section 10-9,
the chairman of the State Board of Elections shall, within 24
hours after the receipt of the certificate of nomination or
nomination papers or petitions for a proposed amendment to
Article IV of the Constitution or proposed statewide question
of public policy, send a call by registered or certified mail
to the objector who files the objector's petition, and either
to the candidate whose certificate of nomination or nomination
papers are objected to or to the principal proponent or
attorney for proponents of the proposed Constitutional
amendment or statewide question of public policy and shall
state the day, hour, and place at which the electoral board

HB4809 - 3 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
shall meet for the purpose, which place may be in the Capitol
Building or in the principal or permanent branch office of the
State Board. The day of the meeting shall not be less than 3
nor more than 5 days after the receipt of the certificate of
nomination or nomination papers and the objector's petition by
the chairman of the electoral board.
The electoral board shall have the power to administer
oaths and to subpoena and examine witnesses and, at the request
of either party and only upon a vote by a majority of its
members, may authorize the chairman to issue subpoenas
requiring the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum
requiring the production of such books, papers, records and
documents as may be evidence of any matter under inquiry before
the electoral board, in the same manner as witnesses are
subpoenaed in the Circuit Court.
Service of such subpoenas shall be made by any sheriff or
other person in the same manner as in cases in such court and
the fees of such sheriff shall be the same as is provided by
law, and shall be paid by the objector or candidate who causes
the issuance of the subpoena. In case any person so served
shall knowingly neglect or refuse to obey any such subpoena, or
to testify, the electoral board shall at once file a petition
in the circuit court of the county in which such hearing is to
be heard, or has been attempted to be heard, setting forth the
facts, of such knowing refusal or neglect, and accompanying the
petition with a copy of the citation and the answer, if one has

HB4809 - 4 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
been filed, together with a copy of the subpoena and the return
of service thereon, and shall apply for an order of court
requiring such person to attend and testify, and forthwith
produce books and papers, before the electoral board. Any
circuit court of the state, excluding the judge who is sitting
on the electoral board, upon such showing shall order such
person to appear and testify, and to forthwith produce such
books and papers, before the electoral board at a place to be
fixed by the court. If such person shall knowingly fail or
refuse to obey such order of the court without lawful excuse,
the court shall punish him or her by fine and imprisonment, as
the nature of the case may require and may be lawful in cases
of contempt of court.
The electoral board on the first day of its meeting shall
adopt rules of procedure for the introduction of evidence and
the presentation of arguments and may, in its discretion,
provide for the filing of briefs by the parties to the
objection or by other interested persons.
In the event of a State Electoral Board hearing on
objections to a petition for an amendment to Article IV of the
Constitution pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIV of the
Constitution, or to a petition for a question of public policy
to be submitted to the voters of the entire State, the
certificates of the county clerks and boards of election
commissioners showing the results of the random sample of
signatures on the petition shall be prima facie valid and

HB4809 - 5 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
accurate, and shall be presumed to establish the number of
valid and invalid signatures on the petition sheets reviewed in
the random sample, as prescribed in Section 28-11 and 28-12 of
this Code. Either party, however, may introduce evidence at
such hearing to dispute the findings as to particular
signatures. In addition to the foregoing, in the absence of
competent evidence presented at such hearing by a party
substantially challenging the results of a random sample, such
results or showing a different result obtained by an additional
sample, this certificate of a county clerk or board of election
commissioners shall be presumed to establish the ratio of valid
to invalid signatures on the petition within the particular
election jurisdiction.
The electoral board shall take up the question as to
whether or not the certificate of nomination or nomination
papers or petitions are in proper form, and whether or not they
were filed within the time and under the conditions required by
law, and whether or not they are the genuine certificate of
nomination or nomination papers or petitions which they purport
to be, and whether or not in the case of the certificate of
nomination in question it represents accurately the decision of
the caucus or convention issuing it, and in general shall
decide whether or not the certificate of nomination or
nominating papers or petitions on file are valid or whether the
objections thereto should be sustained and the decision of a
majority of the electoral board shall be final subject to

HB4809 - 6 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
judicial review as provided in Section 10-10.1. The electoral
board must state its findings in writing and must state in
writing which objections, if any, it has sustained. A copy of
the decision shall be served upon the parties to the
proceedings in open proceedings before the electoral board. If
a party does not appear for receipt of the decision, the
decision shall be deemed to have been served on the absent
party on the date when a copy of the decision is personally
delivered or on the date when a copy of the decision is
deposited in the United States mail, in a sealed envelope or
package, with postage prepaid, addressed to each party affected
by the decision or to such party's attorney of record, if any,
at the address on record for such person in the files of the
electoral board.
Upon the expiration of the period within which a proceeding
for judicial review must be commenced under Section 10-10.1,
the electoral board shall, unless a proceeding for judicial
review has been commenced within such period, transmit, by
registered or certified mail, a certified copy of its ruling,
together with the original certificate of nomination or
nomination papers or petitions and the original objector's
petition, to the officer or board with whom the certificate of
nomination or nomination papers or petitions, as objected to,
were on file, and such officer or board shall abide by and
comply with the ruling so made to all intents and purposes.
(Source: P.A. 98-115, eff. 7-29-13; 98-691, eff. 7-1-14; 99-78,

HB4809 - 7 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
eff. 7-20-15; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)
(10 ILCS 5/28-9) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-9)
Sec. 28-9. Petitions for proposed amendments to Article IV
of the Constitution pursuant to Section 3, Article XIV of the
Constitution shall be signed by a number of electors equal in
number to at least 8% of the total votes cast for candidates
for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial election. Such
petition shall have been signed by the petitioning electors not
more than 24 months preceding the general election at which the
proposed amendment is to be submitted and shall be filed with
the Secretary of State at least 6 months before that general
election.
Upon receipt of a petition for a proposed Constitutional
amendment, the Secretary of State shall, as soon as is
practicable, but no later than the close of the next business
day, deliver such petition to the State Board of Elections.
Petitions for advisory questions of public policy to be
submitted to the voters of the entire State shall be signed by
a number of voters equal in number to 8% of the total votes
cast for candidates for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial
election. Such petition shall have been signed by said
petitioners not more than 24 months preceding the date of the
general election at which the question is to be submitted and
shall be filed with the State Board of Elections at least 6
months before that general election.

HB4809 - 8 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
The proponents of the proposed statewide advisory public
question shall file the original petition for a proposed
constitutional amendment or a Statewide advisory public
question in bound sections. Each section shall be composed of
consecutively numbered petition sheets bound in sections,
containing only the original signatures of registered voters in
the State. Any petition sheets not consecutively numbered or
which contain duplicate page numbers already used on other
sheets, or are photocopies or duplicates of the original
sheets, shall not be considered part of the petition for the
purpose of the random sampling verification and shall not be
counted toward the minimum number of signatures required to
qualify the proposed statewide advisory public question for the
ballot.
Within 7 business days following the last day for filing
the original petition, the proponents shall also file copies of
the petition sheets with each proper election authority and
obtain a receipt therefor.
For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be
defined and construed as follows:
1. "Board" means the State Board of Elections.
2. "Election Authority" means a county clerk or city or
county board of election commissioners.
3. (Blank).
4. "Proponents" means any person, association, committee,
organization or other group, or their designated

HB4809 - 9 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
representatives, who advocate and cause the circulation and
filing of petitions for a statewide advisory question of public
policy or a proposed constitutional amendment for submission at
a general election and who has registered with the Board as
provided in this Act.
5. "Opponents" means any person, association, committee,
organization or other group, or their designated
representatives, who oppose a statewide advisory question of
public policy or a proposed constitutional amendment for
submission at a general election and who have registered with
the Board as provided in this Act.
(Source: P.A. 97-81, eff. 7-5-11; 98-1171, eff. 6-1-15.)
(10 ILCS 5/28-11) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-11)
Sec. 28-11. The Board shall design a standard and
scientific random sampling method for the verification of
petition signatures for statewide advisory referenda and
proposed constitutional amendments shall conduct a public test
to prove the validity of its sampling method. Notice of the
time and place for such test shall be given at least 10 days
before the date on which such test is to be conducted and in
the manner prescribed for notice of regular Board meetings. In
addition, the Board shall adopt rules of procedure for the
petition filing process, including, but not limited to, the
signature verification and signature rehabilitation
procedures. Signatures on petitions for constitutional

HB4809 - 10 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
amendments initiated pursuant to Article XIV, Section 3 of the
Illinois Constitution need not be segregated by election
jurisdiction. The Board shall design an alternative signature
verification method for referenda initiated pursuant to
Article XIV, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution.
The Within 14 business days following the last day for the
filing of the original petition as prescribed in Section 28-9,
the Board shall apply its proven random sampling method to the
petition sheets in each election jurisdiction section for the
purpose of selecting and identifying the petition signatures to
be included in the sample for signature verification to be
conducted by the Board for the respective jurisdictions and
shall prepare and transmit to each proper election authority a
list by page and line number of the signatures from its
election jurisdiction selected for verification.
For each election jurisdiction, the sample verification
shall include an examination of either (a) 10% of the
signatures if 5,010 or more signatures are involved; or (b) 500
signatures if more than 500 but less than 5,010 signatures are
involved; or (c) all signatures if 500 or less signatures are
involved.
The State Board of Elections Each election authority with
whom jurisdictional copies of petition sheets were filed shall
determine the validity of those signatures contained in the
sample use the proven random sampling method designed and
furnished by the Board for the verification of signatures shown

HB4809 - 11 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
on the list supplied by the Board and in accordance with the
adopted rules of procedure and in accordance with the following
criteria for determination of petition signature validity:
1. Determine if the person who signed the petition is a
registered voter in that election jurisdiction or was a
registered voter therein on the date the petition was
signed;
2. Determine if the signature of the person who signed
the petition reasonably compares with the signature shown
on that person's registration record card.
Within 14 business days following receipt from the Board of
the list of signatures for verification, each election
authority shall transmit a properly dated certificate to the
Board which shall indicate; (a) the page and line number of
petition signatures examined, (b) the validity or invalidity of
such signatures, and (c) the reasons for invalidity, based on
the criteria heretofore prescribed. The Board shall prepare and
adopt a standard form of certificate for use by the election
authorities which shall be transmitted with the list of
signatures for verification.
Upon written request of the election authority that, due to
the volume of signatures in the sample for its jurisdiction,
additional time is needed to properly perform the signature
verification, the Board may grant the election authority
additional days to complete the verification and transmit the
certificate of results. These certificates of random sample

HB4809 - 12 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
verification results shall be available for public inspection
within 24 hours after receipt by the State Board of Elections.
(Source: P.A. 97-81, eff. 7-5-11.)
(10 ILCS 5/28-12) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-12)
Sec. 28-12. Upon completion of the signature verification
process receipt of the certificates of the election authorities
showing the results of the sample signature verification, the
Board shall:
1. Based on the sample of signatures examined,
calculate the ratio of invalid and or valid signatures on
the petition in each election jurisdiction.
2. Apply the ratio of invalid to valid signatures in an
election jurisdiction sample to the total number of
petition signatures submitted on the petition from that
election jurisdiction.
3. Compute the degree of multiple signature
contamination in each election jurisdiction sample.
4. Adjusting Adjust for multiple signature
contamination and the number of invalid signatures,
project the total number of valid petition signatures
submitted from each election jurisdiction.
5. (Blank). Aggregate the total number of projected
valid signatures from each election jurisdiction and
project the total number of valid signatures on the
petition statewide.

HB4809 - 13 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
If such statewide projection establishes a total number of
valid petition signatures less than 95% not greater than 95.0%
of the minimum number of signatures required to qualify the
proposed constitutional amendment or statewide advisory public
question for the ballot, the petition shall be presumed
invalid; provided that, prior to the last day for ballot
certification for the general election, the Board shall conduct
a hearing for the purpose of allowing the proponents to present
competent evidence or an additional sample to rebut the
presumption of invalidity. At the conclusion of such hearing,
and after the resolution of any specific objection filed
pursuant to Section 10-8 of this Code, the Board shall issue a
final order declaring the petition to be valid or invalid and
shall, in accordance with its order, certify or not certify the
proposition for the ballot.
If such statewide projection establishes a total number of
valid petition signatures equal to or greater than 95% greater
than 95.0% of the minimum number of signatures required to
qualify the proposed Constitutional amendment or statewide
advisory public question for the ballot, the results of the
sample shall be considered inconclusive and, if no specific
objections to the petition are filed pursuant to Section 10-8
of this Code, the Board shall issue a final order declaring the
petition to be valid and shall certify the proposition for the
ballot.
In either event, the Board shall append to its final order

HB4809 - 14 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
the detailed results of the sample from each election
jurisdiction which shall include: (a) specific page and line
numbers of signatures actually verified or determined to be
invalid by the respective election authorities, and (b) the
calculations and projections performed by the Board for each
election jurisdiction.
(Source: P.A. 97-81, eff. 7-5-11.)
(10 ILCS 5/28-13) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-13)
Sec. 28-13. Each political party and civic organization as
well as the registered proponents and opponents of a proposed
constitutional amendment or statewide advisory public question
shall be entitled to one watcher in the office of the election
authority to observe the conduct of the sample signature
verification and participate in any proceedings related
thereto. However, in those election jurisdictions where a 10%
sample is required, the proponents and opponents may appoint no
more than 5 assistant watchers in addition to the 1 principal
watcher permitted herein.
Within 7 days following the last day for filing of the
original petition, the proponents and opponents shall certify
in writing to the Board that they publicly support or oppose
the proposed statewide advisory public question. The
proponents and opponents of such questions shall register the
name and address of its group and the name and address of its
chairman and designated agent for acceptance of service of

HB4809 - 15 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
notices with the Board. Thereupon, the Board shall prepare a
list of the registered proponents and opponents and shall adopt
a standard proponents' and opponents' watcher credential form.
A copy of such list and sufficient copies of such credentials
shall be transmitted with the list for the sample signature
verification to the appropriate election authorities. Those
election authorities shall issue credentials to the
permissible number of watchers for each proponent and opponent
group; provided, however, that a prospective watcher shall
first present to the election authority a letter of
authorization signed by the chairman of the proponent or
opponent group he or she represents.
Political party and qualified civic organization watcher
credentials shall be substantially in the form and shall be
authorized in the manner prescribed in Section 7-34 of this
Code.
The rights and limitations of pollwatchers as prescribed by
Section 7-34 of this Code, insofar as they may be made
applicable, shall be applicable to watchers at the conduct of
the sample signature verification.
The principal watcher for the proponents and opponents may
make signed written objections to the Board relating to
procedures observed during the conduct of the sample signature
verification which could materially affect the results of the
sample. Such written objections shall be presented to the
election authority and a copy mailed to the Board and shall be

HB4809 - 16 - LRB100 17078 RJF 32229 b
attached to the certificate of sample results transmitted by
the election authority to the Board.
(Source: P.A. 97-81, eff. 7-5-11.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.