HB2851 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 00207 SMS 10209 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB2851

Introduced 2/19/2021, by Rep. Daniel Didech

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
10 ILCS 5/21-1	from Ch. 46, par. 21-1
10 ILCS 5/21-2	from Ch. 46, par. 21-2
10 ILCS 5/21-3	from Ch. 46, par. 21-3
10 ILCS 5/21-4	from Ch. 46, par. 21-4
10 ILCS 5/21-5 rep.

Creates the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act. Concerning electors for the Electoral College, provides for an alternate elector to fill a vacant position (replacing the procedure currently in the Election Code), including if an elector has marked a ballot in violation of his or her pledge. Requires a political party to submit an elector nominee and an alternate elector nominee to the Secretary of State. Requires an elector nominee and an alternate elector nominee to pledge to vote for the President and Vice President nominees of the party that nominated the elector and alternate elector. Makes conforming changes in the Election Code. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning elections.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Cast" means accepted by the Secretary of State in accordance with subsection (b) of Section 30.

"Elector" means an individual selected as a presidential elector under Article 21 of the Election Code and this Act.

"President" means the President of the United States.

"Unaffiliated presidential candidate" means a candidate for President who qualifies for the general election ballot in this State by means other than nomination by a political party.

"Vice President" means the Vice President of the United States.

Section 10. Designation of State's electors. For each elector position in this State, a political party contesting the position, or an unaffiliated presidential candidate, shall submit to the Secretary of State the names of 2 qualified individuals in accordance with Article 21 of the Election Code. One of the individuals must be designated "elector nominee" and the other "alternate elector nominee". Except as otherwise provided in Sections 20 through 35 of this Act, this State's electors are the winning elector nominees under the laws of this State.

Section 15. Pledge. Each elector nominee and alternate elector nominee of a political party shall execute the following pledge: "If selected for the position of elector, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for President and Vice President for the nominees for those offices of the party that nominated me.". Each elector nominee and alternate elector nominee of an unaffiliated presidential candidate shall execute the following pledge: "If selected for the position of elector as a nominee of an unaffiliated presidential candidate, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for that candidate and for that candidate's vice-presidential running mate.". The executed pledges must accompany the submission of the corresponding names to the Secretary of State.

Section 20. Certification of electors. In submitting this State's certificate of ascertainment as required by 3 U.S.C. 6, the Governor shall certify this State's electors and state in the certificate that:

(1) the electors will serve as electors unless a vacancy occurs in the office of elector before the end of the meeting at which elector votes are cast, in which case an alternate elector will fill the vacancy; and

(2) if an alternate elector is appointed to fill a vacancy, the Governor will submit an amended certificate of ascertainment stating the names on the final list of this State's electors.

Section 25. Presiding officer; elector vacancy.

(a) The Secretary of State shall preside at the meeting of electors described in Section 30.

(b) The position of an elector not present to vote is vacant. The Secretary of State shall appoint an individual as an alternate elector to fill a vacancy as follows:

(1) if the alternate elector is present to vote, by appointing the alternate elector for the vacant position;

(2) if the alternate elector for the vacant position is not present to vote, by appointing an elector chosen by lot from among the alternate electors present to vote who were nominated by the same political party or unaffiliated presidential candidate;

(3) if the number of alternate electors present to vote is insufficient to fill any vacant position pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2), by appointing any immediately available individual who is qualified to serve as an elector and chosen through nomination by and plurality vote of the remaining electors, including nomination and vote by a single elector if only one remains;

(4) if there is a tie between at least 2 nominees for alternate elector in a vote conducted under paragraph (3), by appointing an elector chosen by lot from among those nominees; or

(5) if all elector positions are vacant and cannot be filled pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4), by appointing a single presidential elector, with remaining vacant positions to be filled under paragraph (3) and, if necessary, paragraph (4).

(c) To qualify as an alternate elector under subsection (b) of this Section, an individual who has not executed the pledge required under Section 15 shall execute the following pledge: "I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for President and Vice President consistent with the pledge of the individual to whose elector position I have succeeded.".

Section 30. Elector voting.

(a) At the time designated for elector voting and after all vacant positions have been filled under Section 25, the Secretary of State shall provide each elector with a presidential and a vice-presidential ballot. The elector shall mark the elector's presidential and vice-presidential ballots with the elector's votes for the offices of President and Vice President, respectively, along with the elector's signature and the elector's legibly printed name.

(b) Except as otherwise provided by law of this State other than this Act, each elector shall present both completed ballots to the Secretary of State, who shall examine the ballots and accept as cast all ballots of electors whose votes are consistent with their pledges executed under Section 15 or subsection (c) of Section 25. Except as otherwise provided by law of this State other than this Act, the Secretary of State may not accept and may not count either an elector's presidential or vice-presidential ballot if the elector has not marked both ballots or has marked a ballot in violation of the elector's pledge.

(c) An elector who refuses to present a ballot, presents an unmarked ballot, or presents a ballot marked in violation of the elector's pledge executed under Section 15 or subsection (c) of Section 25 vacates the office of elector, creating a vacant position to be filled under Section 25.

(d) The Secretary of State shall distribute ballots to and collect ballots from an alternate elector and repeat the process under this Section of examining ballots, declaring and filling vacant positions as required, and recording appropriately completed ballots from the alternate electors, until all of this State's electoral votes have been cast and recorded.

Section 35. Elector replacement; associated certificates.

(a) After the vote of this State's electors is completed, if the final list of electors differs from any list that the Governor previously included on a certificate of ascertainment prepared and transmitted under 3 U.S.C. 6, the Secretary of State immediately shall prepare an amended certificate of ascertainment and transmit it to the Governor for the Governor's signature.

(b) The Governor immediately shall deliver the signed amended certificate of ascertainment to the Secretary of State and a signed duplicate original of the amended certificate of ascertainment to all individuals entitled to receive this State's certificate of ascertainment, indicating that the amended certificate of ascertainment is to be substituted for the certificate of ascertainment previously submitted.

(c) The Secretary of State shall prepare a certificate of vote. The electors on the final list shall sign the certificate of vote. The Secretary of State shall process and transmit the signed certificate of vote with the amended certificate of ascertainment under 3 U.S.C. Sections 9, 10, and 11.

Section 40. Uniformity of application and construction. In applying and construing this uniform Act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.

Section 100. The Election Code is amended by changing Sections 21-1, 21-2, 21-3 and 21-4 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/21-1) (from Ch. 46, par. 21-1)

Sec. 21-1. Choosing and election of electors of President and Vice-President of the United States shall be in the following manner:

(a) In each year in which a President and Vice-President of the United States are chosen, each political party or group in this State shall choose by its State Convention or State central committee electors and alternate electors of President and Vice-President of the United States and such State Convention or State central committee of such party or group shall also choose electors at large and alternate electors at large, if any are to be appointed for this State and such State Convention or State central committee of such party or group shall by its chair and secretary certify the total list of such electors and alternate electors together with electors at large and alternate electors at large so chosen to the State Board of Elections.

The filing of such certificate with the Board, of such choosing of electors and alternate electors shall be deemed and taken to be the choosing and selection of the electors and alternate electors of this State, if such party or group is successful at the polls as herein provided in choosing their candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States.

(b) The names of the candidates of the several political parties or groups for electors and alternate electors of President and Vice-President shall not be printed on the official ballot to be voted in the election to be held on the day in this Act above named. In lieu of the names of the candidates for such electors and alternate electors of President and Vice-President, immediately under the appellation of party name of a party or group in the column of its candidates on the official ballot, to be voted at said election first above named in subsection (1) of Section 2A-1.2 and Section 2A-2, there shall be printed within a bracket the name of the candidate for President and the name of the candidate for Vice-President of such party or group with a square to the left of such bracket. Each voter in this State from the several lists or sets of electors and alternate electors so chosen and selected by the said respective political parties or groups, may choose and elect one of such lists or sets of electors and alternate electors by placing a cross in the square to the left of the bracket aforesaid of one of such parties or groups. Placing a cross within the square before the bracket enclosing the names of President and Vice-President shall not be deemed and taken as a direct vote for such candidates for President and Vice-President, or either of them, but shall only be deemed and taken to be a vote for the entire list or set of electors and alternate electors chosen by that political party or group so certified to the State Board of Elections as herein provided. Voting by means of placing a cross in the appropriate place preceding the appellation or title of the particular political party or group, shall not be deemed or taken as a direct vote for the candidates for President and Vice-President, or either of them, but instead to the Presidential vote, as a vote for the entire list or set of electors and alternate electors chosen by that political party or group so certified to the State Board of Elections as herein provided.

(c) Such certification by the respective political parties or groups in this State of electors and alternate electors of President and Vice-President shall be made to the State Board of Elections within 2 days after such State convention or meeting of the State central committee in which the electors and alternate electors were chosen.

(d) Should more than one certificate of choice and selection of electors and alternate electors of the same political party or group be filed by contesting conventions or contesting groups, it shall be the duty of the State Board of Elections within 10 days after the adjournment of the last of such conventions to meet and determine which set of nominees for electors and alternate electors of such party or group was chosen and selected by the authorized convention of such party or group. The Board, after notice to the chair and secretaries or managers of the conventions or groups and after a hearing shall determine which set of electors and alternate electors was so chosen by the authorized convention and shall so announce and publish the fact, and such decision shall be final and the set of electors and alternate electors so determined upon by the electoral board to be so chosen shall be the list or set of electors and alternate electors to be deemed elected if that party shall be successful at the polls, as herein provided.

(e) Should a vacancy occur in the choice of an elector in a congressional district, such vacancy may be filled by the executive committee of the party or group for such congressional district, to be certified by such committee to the State Board of Elections. Should a vacancy occur in the office of elector at large, such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with Section 25 of the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act. by the State committee of such political party or group, and certified by it to the State Board of Elections.

(Source: P.A. 99-522, eff. 6-30-16; 100-1027, eff. 1-1-19.)

(10 ILCS 5/21-2) (from Ch. 46, par. 21-2)

Sec. 21-2. The county clerks of the several counties shall, within 21 days next after holding the election named in subsection (1) of Section 2A-1.2 and Section 2A-2, make 2 copies of the abstract of the votes cast for electors and alternate electors by each political party or group, as indicated by the voter, as aforesaid, by a cross in the square to the left of the bracket aforesaid, or as indicated by a cross in the appropriate place preceding the appellation or title of the particular political party or group, and transmit by mail one of the copies to the office of the State Board of Elections and retain the other in his office, to be sent for by the electoral board in case the other should be mislaid. Within 31 days after the holding of such election, and sooner if all the returns are received by the State Board of Elections, the State Board of Elections shall proceed to open and canvass said election returns and to declare which set of candidates for President and Vice-President received, as aforesaid, the highest number of votes cast at such election as aforesaid; and the electors and alternate electors of that party whose candidates for President and Vice-President received the highest number of votes so cast shall be taken and deemed to be elected as electors and alternate electors of President and Vice-President, but should 2 or more sets of candidates for President and Vice-President be returned with an equal and the highest vote, the State Board of Elections shall cause a notice of the same to be published, which notice shall name some day and place, not less than 5 days from the time of such publication of such notice, upon which the State Board of Elections will decide by lot which of the sets of candidates for President and Vice-President so equal and highest shall be declared to be highest. And upon the day and at the place so appointed in the notice, the board shall so decide by lot and declare which is deemed highest of the sets of candidates for President and Vice-President so equal and highest, thereby determining only that the electors and alternate electors chosen as aforesaid by such candidates' party or group are thereby elected by general ticket to be such electors and alternate electors.

(Source: P.A. 100-863, eff. 8-14-18.)

(10 ILCS 5/21-3) (from Ch. 46, par. 21-3)

Sec. 21-3. Within five days after the votes shall have been canvassed and the results declared or the result declared by lot as provided for in Section 21-2 above, the Governor shall cause the result of said election to be published, and shall proclaim the persons electors and alternate electors of President and Vice-President so chosen composing the list so elected, by transmitting by mail to the several persons so chosen and composing the list or set elected, electors of President and Vice-President certificates in triplicate, under the Seal of State of their appointment, and shall also transmit under the Seal of State to the Secretary of State of the United States the certificate of the election of said electors and alternate electors as required by the laws of Congress.

(Source: Laws 1943, vol. 2, p. 1.)

(10 ILCS 5/21-4) (from Ch. 46, par. 21-4)

Sec. 21-4. Presidential electors; meeting; allowance. The electors and alternate electors, elected under this Article, shall meet at the office of the Secretary of State in a room to be designated by the Secretary in the Capitol at Springfield in this State, at the time appointed by the laws of the United States at the hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon of that day, and give their votes for President and for Vice-President of the United States, in the manner provided by the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act in this Article, and perform such duties as are or may be required by law. Each elector and alternate elector shall receive an allowance for food and lodging equal to the amount per day permitted to be deducted for such expenses under the Internal Revenue Code, plus a mileage allowance at the rate in effect under regulations promulgated pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5707(b)(2) for the number of highway miles necessarily and conveniently traveled, for going to the seat of government to give his or her vote and returning to his or her residence and otherwise performing the official duties of an elector and alternate elector, to be paid on the warrant of the State Comptroller, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, and any person appointed by the electors assembled to fill a vacancy shall also receive the allowances provided for electors appointed.

(Source: P.A. 92-359, eff. 1-1-02.)

(10 ILCS 5/21-5 rep.)

Section 105. The Election Code is amended by repealing Section 21-5.

Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.