Section 217.10  Applicability

 

a)         This Part implements that portion of Section 16-5.01 of the Election Code.

 

b)         This Part is applicable to those municipalities that have chosen to adopt a system of ranked balloting to be used in the consolidated election by qualified members of the United States armed forces or United States citizens who will be outside the United States on the dates of both the consolidated primary and consolidated election in any given year.  Municipalities utilizing this ranked ballot system shall pass an ordinance to that effect prior to the first of the year in which any election occurs at which ranked ballots are intended to be used.  The municipality is responsible for transmitting the ordinance to any election authority whose jurisdiction includes the municipality or any portion of the municipality.  The transmittal must be completed no later than 5 business days following passage of the ordinance.

 

c)         No municipality may offer or accept ranked ballots without first obtaining a written statement of administrative approval from every election authority whose jurisdiction contains a portion of that municipality.

 

d)         Any statement of administrative approval shall only be effective for the next succeeding consolidated election at which ranked ballots will be used.

 

Section 217.20  Definitions

 

"Contested Primary" shall have the meaning ascribed by Section 7-12(10)(a) of the Code for established political party primaries or Sections 3.1-20-45, 3.1-25-20, 5-2-18.5, 5-2-18.7 and 5-2-19 of the Municipal Code, as applicable to non-partisan primaries for the municipality in question, as well as that ascribed by any other provisions of the Municipal Code or the Election Code.

 

"Election Authority" means a county clerk or a Board of Election Commissioners.  [10 ILCS 5/1-3]

 

"Election Code" or "Code" means 10 ILCS 5.

 

"Municipal" or "Municipality" means a city, village, or incorporated town in the State of Illinois, but, unless the context otherwise provides, "municipal" or "municipality" does not include a township, town when used as the equivalent of a township, incorporated town that has superseded a civil township, county, school district, park district, sanitary district, or any other similar governmental district. If "municipal" or "municipality" is given a different definition in any particular Division or Section of the Municipal Code, that definition shall control in that Division or Section only. [65 ILCS 5/1-1-2]

 

"Municipal Code" means 65 ILCS 5.

 

"Qualified Person" means an individual qualified to cast an absentee ballot under the Election Code who is a member of the U.S. armed forces or a U.S. citizen who will be outside the United States on the dates of both the consolidated primary and consolidated election in any given year.

 

"Ranked Balloting" means a system in which a voter, in addition to voting a consolidated primary ballot, votes a "ranked ballot" in lieu of a consolidated election ballot.  The voter indicates a numerical preference for each candidate listed on the ranked ballot.  For each office, the winning candidate or candidates at the consolidated primary election who received the voter's highest numerical designation shall receive that voter's vote at the consolidated election.  This system eliminates the need to send the voter a separate consolidated election ballot after the results of the consolidated primary election have been certified.

 

"Ranking Ballot" means a ballot issued, pursuant to Section 217.30, under a ranked balloting system.

 

Section 217.30  Issuance of Ballots

 

a)         A ranking ballot shall be issued to any qualified person requesting a ballot. The qualified persons must maintain or have maintained a residence within the municipality immediately prior to the person being located outside of the United States.

 

b)         Ranking ballots shall be issued and mailed with the consolidated primary ballot.  An additional ballot containing races for which the voter is entitled to cast a vote but that do not appear on the consolidated primary ballot shall be sent to the voter as soon as they become available from the election authority in charge of printing the ballots.

 

c)         All ranking ballots shall include a set of instructions directing the voter to rank his or her choices for each of the candidates listed on the ballot.  The directions shall include a notice that the voter must make a numerical notation (1, 2, 3, and so on) designating a ranked preference for any candidate for which he or she intends to cast a vote.  The directions shall also inform the voter that he or she is not required to indicate a numerical preference for more than one candidate on the ranked ballot.

 

Section 217.40  Ballots

 

a)         All ranking ballots used under this Part shall include only those municipal and township offices scheduled to be voted on by the individual voter of the issuing municipality at the election in question.

 

b)         The ballot form shall contain a blank line horizontally adjacent and left of the name of every candidate appearing on the ballot for the municipality and township in which the voter resides or previously resided, including those who appear on the ballot because of their potential to be nominated following a write-in candidacy.

 

c)         The ballot shall not contain any blank line that may be used for writing in additional candidate choices.

 

d)         Any municipality that chooses to use ranked balloting and whose officers are elected on a partisan basis shall conduct its lottery for political party position on the ballot after the certification of the primary ballot. All candidates, including write-in candidates, shall be listed in order of filing within each political party grouping.  New party and independent candidates shall be listed as otherwise specified in the Election Code.  For those municipalities that elect their officers on a non-partisan basis, the order of candidates appearing on the ballot shall be determined by the order of candidate filing, including the results of any lottery held to determine ballot position of those candidates who filed their nominating petitions simultaneously at the opening hour of the filing office.

 

e)         The names of each candidate for each office shall be grouped together vertically.  However, there shall be a distinct separation between candidate groupings for each office in order to clearly indicate to the voter where the grouping of candidates for each office begins and ends.

 

f)         The ballot shall include a notation to each voter at the top of each column of candidates indicating to the voter that all candidates may be ranked for each race appearing on the ballot.

 

g)         The election authority may use multiple columns of candidates on the same ballot form and may print candidate names on both sides of a single ballot, but must ensure that all of the candidate names for a given contest appear on the same side, and that writing on one side of the ballot will not obscure candidate names on the reverse side.

 

h)         The ballot shall include an instruction directing the voter to write a numeral on the ballot, in ink, next to the name of each candidate that the voter wishes to rank, and that no two candidates should be assigned the same ranking number.

 

Section 217.50  Tabulation of Ranking Ballots

 

a)         All ranking ballots shall be remade on a ballot of the same type that is used by in-precinct voters in the election authority's jurisdiction.  Except as provided in this Section, the ballots shall be processed in the same manner as those processed at the central counting center (absentee, early and grace period).  The provisions in the Election Code allowing for poll watchers during the counting of provisional ballots shall be applicable to the counting of ranking ballots.

 

b)         A single remade ballot shall be used to record the voters' choices on the ranking ballot and the voters' choices on the consolidated ballot that contains non-municipal and township races.  The remade ballot shall be marked so that the highest ranked (closest to "one") candidates among those candidates who appear on the consolidated election ballot shall receive the voter's votes.  The remade ballot shall carry an identifying mark that indicates it was remade based on the corresponding ranking ballot and non-municipal and non-township ballot.  The election authority shall maintain the voter's absentee ballot application, or a copy of the application, with its records for both the consolidated primary and consolidated election.  The remade ballot shall be stored with the ranking and non-municipal and non-township ballots that were returned by the voter.

 

c)         All ranking ballots must be received and accepted according to Article 19 or 21 of the Election Code.  A ranking ballot shall be deemed to have been timely received if it arrives in the office of the election authority within 14 days after the consolidated election.

 

d)         The election judges shall be responsible for any determination of voter intent, including but not limited to interpretation of illegible or obscured numerical indications.  A majority vote of the judges shall be the final determination of the voter's intent.

 

e)         If the voter's intent to cast a vote cannot be ascertained due to a lack of a numerical notation on the blank line opposite any of the candidate's names on the ballot at the consolidated election, no vote shall be cast for that candidate.

 

f)         Ranking ballots shall be safeguarded and secured, as required by Section 17-20 of the Code, by the election authority during the period between the municipal primary and municipal election and will not be available for any public inspection.  The ranking ballots shall be destroyed in accordance with Section 17-20 of the Code.

 

g)         If the voter has the opportunity to vote for multiple positions within the same race, the highest ranked candidates appearing on the consolidated election ballot, up to the number of candidates to be elected to that office, shall receive the votes.  The highest ranking shall be the ranking that is closest to the number one.

 

h)         Ballots that are remade and cast pursuant to this Part shall be attributed to the precinct in which the voter resides.

 

i)          Voter history shall be recorded for the consolidated election for each individual who casts a ranked ballot.

 

j)          If the voter only returns a ranking ballot, it shall be remade and counted regardless of the fact that the voter did not return a consolidated primary or non-municipal or non-township ballot.