Section 201.40  Simultaneous Filings for the Same Office – Lottery

Simultaneous filings of candidate nominating petitions for the same office occur only at 8:00 a.m. on the first day of filing, and in the last hour of filing on the last day of filing.  The lottery system to be used by the State Board of Elections, the election authority, or the local election official to break ties resulting from simultaneous filings must be approved by the State Board of Elections.  The following system has been so approved:

a)         The names of all candidates who filed simultaneously for the same office shall be listed alphabetically and shall be numbered consecutively commencing with the number one, which shall be assigned to the candidate whose name is listed first on the alphabetical list; provided, however, that candidates filing a group petition for the same office shall be treated as one in the alphabetical listing using the name of the first candidate for that office to appear on the petitions as the name to be included in the alphabetical list.  For example, if five candidates by the name of Downs, Brown, Edwards, Cook and Adams have filed simultaneously, they will be arranged alphabetically and assigned numbers as follows:  Adams, one; Brown, two; Cook, three; Downs, four; and Edwards, five.  However, if Cook and Adams filed a group petition and Cook's name appeared first on the petition, then the candidates would be arranged as follows:  Brown, one; Cook and Adams, two; Downs, three; and Edwards, four.

b)         All ties will be broken by a single drawing.  A number shall be placed in a container representing each number assigned to each candidate and group of candidates pursuant to the alphabetical listing procedure set forth in subsection (a).  For example, if the largest number to be used for any office is five, then numbers one, two, three, four and five will be placed in a container.  In this manner, sufficient numbers will be placed in the container to conduct a drawing for all offices at the same time.

c)         After the numbers are placed in the container they shall be drawn one at a time from the container after they have been thoroughly shaken and mixed.  The candidate or group of candidates in the position on an alphabetical list corresponding to the first number drawn shall be certified ahead of the other candidates listed on the alphabetical list.  The candidate or group of candidates in the position on the alphabetical list corresponding to the second number drawn will be certified second, and so forth until all numbers have been drawn.  For example, when no group petitions were filed, if candidates Adams, Brown, Cook, Downs and Edwards filed simultaneously at 8:00 a.m. on the first day of filing, and the number three is the first drawn, then candidate Cook, who is listed in the third position on the alphabetical list, shall be certified first on the ballot.  If the number one is drawn second, then candidate Adams, who is listed in the first position on the alphabetical list, shall be certified second on the ballot, and so on. For offices for which group petitions were filed, using the example set forth in this subsection (c) in which candidates Cook and Adams file a group petition for the same office, and Cook's name appears first on the petition, and number three is drawn first, then candidate Downs would be listed first.  If the number two is drawn second, then candidates Cook and Adams would be certified second and third, respectively.  If the number four is drawn third, then candidate Edwards would be certified fourth, and so on.  In districts with fewer names on the alphabetical list than are in the drawing, then all numbers in excess of the number of candidates or group of candidates that appear on the particular alphabetical list shall be disregarded. Thus, if five numbers are placed in the container, and only four candidates or groups of candidates are on a particular list, then the number five shall be disregarded.  For example, if candidates Adams and Cook, filing separate petitions, are the only candidates listed on the alphabetical list and five numbers are chosen in the following order, 3, 5, 4, 2 and 1, then candidate Cook's name will appear in the certification prior to the name of candidate Adams.  For simultaneous petitions filed in the last hour on the last day of filing, the drawing shall operate in the same manner as outlined in this Section, except that the candidate associated with the first drawn number shall be certified last on the ballot, the candidate associated with the second drawn number shall be certified second to last on the ballot, and so on until all numbers are drawn.

d)         All candidates shall be certified in the order in which petitions have been filed with the State Board of Elections, election authority or the local election official.  In cases in which candidates have filed simultaneously, they shall be certified (in the order determined by the lottery procedure outlined in this Section) prior to candidates who filed for the same office who filed their petitions at a later time, except in those situations in which the law requires rotation on a district-by-district basis.

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 8812, effective June 20, 2016)