Bill Text: IL SB0497 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Election Code. Provides that the nomination papers of a candidate shall be deemed invalid and a candidate's name shall not appear on the ballot if the candidate is found to have personally engaged in material fraud or a pattern of fraud in connection with the signatures on the nominating papers or false swearing with respect to the nominating papers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-24 - Referred to Rules Committee [SB0497 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB0497-Engrossed.html

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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
Section 10-10 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 chair 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; to the objector who filed the objector's
petition; 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; to the election authority to whom the ballot is
certified; and to the appropriate county clerk. The chair of
the electoral board other than the State Board of Elections
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

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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 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
chair 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

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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
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 chair 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 chair 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

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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 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

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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
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, 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 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

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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 judicial review as provided in Section 10-10.1. The
nomination papers of a candidate shall be deemed invalid and a
candidate's name shall not appear on the ballot if the
candidate is found to have personally engaged in material
fraud or a pattern of fraud in connection with the signatures
on the nominating papers or false swearing with respect to the
nominating papers. 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,

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