Bill Text: IL SB3426 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Election Code. Provides that, 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, the State Board of Election's alternative signature verification method for referenda as authorized by the Code shall be presumed to establish the number of valid signatures on the petition sheets and that number shall be prima facie valid and accurate. In the event of a State Electoral Board hearing on objections, 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 accurate, and shall be presumed to establish the number of valid and invalid signatures on the petition sheets reviewed in the random sample. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2015-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB3426 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2013-SB3426-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning elections.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 10-10 as follows:
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6 | (10 ILCS 5/10-10) (from Ch. 46, par. 10-10)
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7 | Sec. 10-10. Within 24 hours after the receipt of the | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | certificate of
nomination or nomination papers or proposed | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | question of public
policy, as the case may be, and the | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | objector's petition, the chairman
of the electoral board other | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | than the State Board of Elections shall
send a call by | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | registered or certified mail to each of the members of the
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13 | electoral board, and to the objector who filed the objector's | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | petition, and
either to the candidate whose certificate of | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | nomination or nomination
papers are objected to or to the | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | principal proponent or attorney for
proponents of a question of | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | public policy, as the case may be, whose
petitions are objected | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | to, and shall also cause the sheriff of the county
or counties | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | in which such officers and persons reside to serve a copy of
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20 | such call upon each of such officers and persons, which call | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | shall set out
the fact that the electoral board is required to | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | meet to hear and pass upon
the objections to nominations made | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | for the office, designating it, and
shall state the day, hour |
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1 | and place at which the electoral board shall meet
for the | ||||||
2 | purpose, which place shall be in the
county court house in the | ||||||
3 | county in the case of the County Officers
Electoral Board, the | ||||||
4 | Municipal Officers Electoral Board, the Township
Officers | ||||||
5 | Electoral Board or the Education Officers Electoral Board, | ||||||
6 | except that the Municipal Officers Electoral Board, the | ||||||
7 | Township Officers Electoral Board, and the Education Officers | ||||||
8 | Electoral Board may meet at the location where the governing | ||||||
9 | body of the municipality, township, or community college | ||||||
10 | district, respectively, holds its regularly scheduled | ||||||
11 | meetings, if that location is available; provided that voter | ||||||
12 | records may be removed from the offices of an election | ||||||
13 | authority only at the discretion and under the supervision of | ||||||
14 | the election authority.
In
those cases where the State Board of | ||||||
15 | Elections is the electoral board
designated under Section 10-9, | ||||||
16 | the chairman of the State Board of Elections
shall, within 24 | ||||||
17 | hours after the receipt of the certificate of nomination
or | ||||||
18 | nomination papers or petitions for a proposed amendment to | ||||||
19 | Article IV of
the Constitution or proposed statewide question | ||||||
20 | of public policy, send a
call by registered or certified mail | ||||||
21 | to the objector who files the
objector's petition, and either | ||||||
22 | to the candidate whose certificate of
nomination or nomination | ||||||
23 | papers are objected to or to the principal
proponent or | ||||||
24 | attorney for proponents of the proposed Constitutional
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25 | amendment or statewide question of public policy and shall | ||||||
26 | state the day,
hour and place at which the electoral board |
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1 | shall meet for the purpose,
which place may be in the Capitol | ||||||
2 | Building or in the principal or permanent
branch office of the | ||||||
3 | State Board. The day of the meeting shall not be less
than 3 | ||||||
4 | nor more than 5 days after the receipt of the certificate of
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5 | nomination or nomination papers and the objector's petition by | ||||||
6 | the chairman
of the electoral board.
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7 | The electoral board shall have the power to administer | ||||||
8 | oaths and to
subpoena and examine witnesses and at the request | ||||||
9 | of either party the
chairman may issue subpoenas requiring the | ||||||
10 | attendance of witnesses and
subpoenas duces tecum requiring the | ||||||
11 | production of such books, papers,
records and documents as may | ||||||
12 | be evidence of any matter under inquiry
before the electoral | ||||||
13 | board, in the same manner as witnesses are
subpoenaed in the | ||||||
14 | Circuit Court.
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15 | Service of such subpoenas shall be made by any sheriff or | ||||||
16 | other
person in the same manner as in cases in such court and | ||||||
17 | the fees of such
sheriff shall be the same as is provided by | ||||||
18 | law, and shall be paid by
the objector or candidate who causes | ||||||
19 | the issuance of the subpoena. In
case any person so served | ||||||
20 | shall knowingly neglect or refuse to obey any
such subpoena, or | ||||||
21 | to testify, the electoral board shall at once file a
petition | ||||||
22 | in the circuit court of the county in which such hearing is to
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23 | be heard, or has been attempted to be heard, setting forth the | ||||||
24 | facts, of
such knowing refusal or neglect, and accompanying the | ||||||
25 | petition with a
copy of the citation and the answer, if one has | ||||||
26 | been filed, together
with a copy of the subpoena and the return |
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1 | of service thereon, and shall
apply for an order of court | ||||||
2 | requiring such person to attend and testify,
and forthwith | ||||||
3 | produce books and papers, before the electoral board. Any
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4 | circuit court of the state, excluding the judge who is sitting | ||||||
5 | on the electoral
board, upon such showing shall order such | ||||||
6 | person to appear and testify,
and to forthwith produce such | ||||||
7 | books and papers, before the electoral board
at a place to be | ||||||
8 | fixed by the court. If such person shall knowingly fail
or | ||||||
9 | refuse to obey such order of the court without lawful excuse, | ||||||
10 | the court
shall punish him or her by fine and imprisonment, as | ||||||
11 | the nature of the case
may require and may be lawful in cases | ||||||
12 | of contempt of court.
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13 | The electoral board on the first day of its meeting shall | ||||||
14 | adopt rules
of procedure for the introduction of evidence and | ||||||
15 | the presentation of
arguments and may, in its discretion, | ||||||
16 | provide for the filing of briefs
by the parties to the | ||||||
17 | objection or by other interested persons.
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18 | In the event of a State Electoral Board hearing on | ||||||
19 | objections to a
petition for an amendment to Article IV of the | ||||||
20 | Constitution
pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIV of the | ||||||
21 | Constitution , the State Board of Election's alternative | ||||||
22 | signature verification method for referenda as authorized by | ||||||
23 | Section 28-11 of this Code shall be presumed to establish the | ||||||
24 | number of valid signatures on the petition sheets and that | ||||||
25 | number shall be prima facie valid and accurate. In the event of | ||||||
26 | a State Electoral Board hearing on objections , or to a
petition |
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1 | for a question of public policy to be submitted to the
voters | ||||||
2 | of the entire State, the certificates of the county clerks and | ||||||
3 | boards
of election commissioners showing the results of the | ||||||
4 | random sample of
signatures on the petition shall be prima | ||||||
5 | facie valid and accurate, and
shall be presumed to establish | ||||||
6 | the number of valid and invalid
signatures on the petition | ||||||
7 | sheets reviewed in the random sample, as prescribed
in Section | ||||||
8 | 28-11 and 28-12 of this Code. Either party, however, may | ||||||
9 | introduce
evidence at such hearing to dispute the findings as | ||||||
10 | to particular signatures.
In addition to the foregoing, in the | ||||||
11 | absence of competent evidence presented
at such hearing by a | ||||||
12 | party substantially challenging the results of a random
sample, | ||||||
13 | or showing a different result obtained by an additional sample,
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14 | this certificate of a county clerk or board of election | ||||||
15 | commissioners shall
be presumed to establish the ratio of valid | ||||||
16 | to invalid signatures within
the particular election | ||||||
17 | jurisdiction.
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18 | The electoral board shall take up the question as to | ||||||
19 | whether or not
the certificate of nomination or nomination | ||||||
20 | papers or petitions are in
proper form, and whether or not they | ||||||
21 | were filed within the time and
under the conditions required by | ||||||
22 | law, and whether or not they are the
genuine certificate of | ||||||
23 | nomination or nomination papers or petitions
which they purport | ||||||
24 | to be, and whether or not in the case of the
certificate of | ||||||
25 | nomination in question it represents accurately the
decision of | ||||||
26 | the caucus or convention issuing it, and in general shall
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1 | decide whether or not the certificate of nomination or | ||||||
2 | nominating papers
or petitions on file are valid or whether the | ||||||
3 | objections thereto should
be sustained and the decision of a | ||||||
4 | majority of the electoral board shall
be final subject to | ||||||
5 | judicial review as provided in Section 10-10.1. The
electoral | ||||||
6 | board must state its findings in writing and must state in
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7 | writing which objections, if any, it has sustained. A copy of | ||||||
8 | the decision shall be served upon the parties to the | ||||||
9 | proceedings in open proceedings before the electoral board. If | ||||||
10 | a party does not appear for receipt of the decision, the | ||||||
11 | decision shall be deemed to have been served on the absent | ||||||
12 | party on the date when a copy of the decision is personally | ||||||
13 | delivered or on the date when a copy of the decision is | ||||||
14 | deposited in the Unites States mail, in a sealed envelope or | ||||||
15 | package, with postage prepaid, addressed to each party affected | ||||||
16 | by the decision or to such party's attorney of record, if any, | ||||||
17 | at the address on record for such person in the files of the | ||||||
18 | electoral board.
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19 | Upon the expiration of the period within which a proceeding | ||||||
20 | for
judicial review must be commenced under Section 10-10.1, | ||||||
21 | the electoral
board shall, unless a proceeding for judicial | ||||||
22 | review has been commenced
within such period, transmit, by | ||||||
23 | registered or certified mail, a
certified copy of its ruling, | ||||||
24 | together with the original certificate of
nomination or | ||||||
25 | nomination papers or petitions and the original objector's
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26 | petition, to the officer or board with whom the certificate of
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1 | nomination or nomination papers or petitions, as objected to, | ||||||
2 | were on
file, and such officer or board shall abide by and | ||||||
3 | comply with the
ruling so made to all intents and purposes.
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4 | (Source: P.A. 98-115, eff. 7-29-13.)
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5 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
6 | becoming law.
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