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| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 SB2240 Introduced 2/15/2013, by Sen. John M. Sullivan SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 10 ILCS 5/17-23 | from Ch. 46, par. 17-23 |
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Amends the Election Code. Provides that the State Board of Elections (now only local election authorities) can issue pollwatcher credentials. Effective immediately.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| | SB2240 | | LRB098 10547 HLH 40789 b |
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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 | | 17-23 as follows:
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6 | | (10 ILCS 5/17-23) (from Ch. 46, par. 17-23)
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7 | | Sec. 17-23. Pollwatchers in a general election shall be |
8 | | authorized in
the following manner:
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9 | | (1) Each established political party shall be entitled to |
10 | | appoint
two pollwatchers per precinct. Such pollwatchers must |
11 | | be affiliated
with the political party for which they are |
12 | | pollwatching. For all
elections, the pollwatchers must be
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13 | | registered to vote in Illinois.
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14 | | (2) Each candidate shall be entitled to appoint two |
15 | | pollwatchers per
precinct. For all elections, the pollwatchers |
16 | | must be
registered to vote
in Illinois.
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17 | | (3) Each organization of citizens within the county or |
18 | | political
subdivision, which has among its purposes or |
19 | | interests the investigation
or prosecution of election frauds, |
20 | | and which shall have registered its
name and address and the |
21 | | name and addresses of its principal officers
with the proper |
22 | | election authority at least 40 days before the election,
shall |
23 | | be entitled to appoint one pollwatcher per precinct. For all
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1 | | elections, the pollwatcher must be registered to vote in
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2 | | Illinois.
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3 | | (3.5) Each State nonpartisan civic organization within the |
4 | | county or political subdivision shall be entitled to appoint |
5 | | one pollwatcher per precinct, provided that no more than 2 |
6 | | pollwatchers appointed by State nonpartisan civic |
7 | | organizations shall be present in a precinct polling place at |
8 | | the same time. Each organization shall have registered the |
9 | | names and addresses of its principal officers with the proper |
10 | | election authority at least 40 days before the election. The |
11 | | pollwatchers must be registered to vote in Illinois. For the |
12 | | purpose of this paragraph, a "State nonpartisan civic |
13 | | organization" means any corporation, unincorporated |
14 | | association, or organization that: |
15 | | (i) as part of its written articles of incorporation, |
16 | | bylaws, or charter or by separate written declaration, has |
17 | | among its stated purposes the provision of voter |
18 | | information and education, the protection of individual |
19 | | voters' rights, and the promotion of free and equal |
20 | | elections; |
21 | | (ii) is organized or primarily conducts its activities |
22 | | within the State of Illinois; and |
23 | | (iii) continuously maintains an office or business |
24 | | location within the State of Illinois, together with a |
25 | | current listed telephone number (a post office box number |
26 | | without a current listed telephone number is not |
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1 | | sufficient).
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2 | | (4) In any general election held to elect candidates for |
3 | | the offices of
a municipality of less than 3,000,000 population |
4 | | that is situated in 2 or
more counties, a pollwatcher who is a |
5 | | resident of Illinois shall be eligible to serve as a
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6 | | pollwatcher in any poll located within such
municipality, |
7 | | provided that such pollwatcher otherwise complies with the
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8 | | respective requirements of subsections (1) through (3) of this |
9 | | Section and
is a registered voter in Illinois.
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10 | | (5) Each organized group of proponents or opponents of a |
11 | | ballot
proposition, which shall have registered the name and |
12 | | address of its
organization or committee and the name and |
13 | | address of its chairman with the
proper election authority at |
14 | | least 40 days before the election, shall be
entitled to appoint |
15 | | one pollwatcher per precinct. The pollwatcher
must be
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16 | | registered to vote in Illinois.
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17 | | All pollwatchers shall be required to have proper |
18 | | credentials. Such
credentials shall be printed in sufficient |
19 | | quantities, shall be issued
by and under the facsimile |
20 | | signature(s) of the election authority or the State Board of |
21 | | Elections and
shall be available for distribution by the |
22 | | election authority and State Board of Elections at least 2 |
23 | | weeks prior to the
election. Such credentials shall be |
24 | | authorized by the real or facsimile
signature of the State or |
25 | | local party official or the candidate or the
presiding officer |
26 | | of the civic organization or the chairman of the
proponent or |
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1 | | opponent group, as the case may be. The election authority or |
2 | | the State Board of Elections may not require any such party |
3 | | official or the candidate or the presiding officer of the civic |
4 | | organization or the chairman of the proponent or opponent group |
5 | | to submit the names or other information concerning |
6 | | pollwatchers before making credentials available to such |
7 | | persons or organizations.
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8 | | Pollwatcher credentials shall be in substantially the |
9 | | following form:
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10 | | POLLWATCHER CREDENTIALS
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11 | | TO THE JUDGES OF ELECTION:
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12 | | In accordance with the provisions of the Election
Code, the |
13 | | undersigned hereby appoints .......... (name of pollwatcher)
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14 | | who resides at ........... (address) in the county
of |
15 | | ..........., .......... (township or municipality)
of |
16 | | ........... (name), State of Illinois and who is duly |
17 | | registered
to vote from this address, to act as a pollwatcher |
18 | | in the
........... precinct of the ........... ward (if |
19 | | applicable)
of the ........... (township or municipality) of |
20 | | ........... at the
........... election to be held on (insert |
21 | | date).
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22 | | ........................ (Signature of Appointing Authority)
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23 | | ......................... TITLE (party official, candidate,
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24 | | civic organization president,
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25 | | proponent or opponent group chairman)
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1 | | Under penalties provided by law pursuant to Section 29-10 |
2 | | of the
Election Code, the undersigned pollwatcher certifies |
3 | | that he or she resides
at ................ (address) in the |
4 | | county of ............, .........
(township or municipality) |
5 | | of ........... (name), State of Illinois, and is
duly |
6 | | registered to vote in Illinois.
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7 | | .......................... .......................
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8 | | (Precinct and/or Ward in (Signature of Pollwatcher)
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9 | | Which Pollwatcher Resides)
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10 | | Pollwatchers must present their credentials to the Judges |
11 | | of Election
upon entering the polling place. Pollwatcher |
12 | | credentials properly
executed and signed shall be proof of the |
13 | | qualifications of the
pollwatcher authorized thereby. Such |
14 | | credentials are retained by the
Judges and returned to the |
15 | | Election Authority at the end of the day of
election with the |
16 | | other election materials. Once a pollwatcher has
surrendered a |
17 | | valid credential, he may leave and reenter the polling place
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18 | | provided that such continuing action does not disrupt the |
19 | | conduct of the
election. Pollwatchers may be substituted during |
20 | | the course of the day, but
established political parties, |
21 | | candidates and qualified civic organizations
can have only as |
22 | | many pollwatchers at any given time as are authorized in
this |
23 | | Article. A substitute must present his signed credential to the
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24 | | judges of election upon entering the polling place. Election |
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1 | | authorities
must provide a sufficient number of credentials to |
2 | | allow for substitution
of pollwatchers. After the polls have |
3 | | closed pollwatchers shall be allowed
to remain until the |
4 | | canvass of votes is completed; but may leave and
reenter only |
5 | | in cases of necessity, provided that such action is not so
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6 | | continuous as to disrupt the canvass of votes.
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7 | | Candidates seeking office in a district or municipality |
8 | | encompassing 2
or more counties shall be admitted to any and |
9 | | all polling places throughout
such district or municipality |
10 | | without regard to the counties in which such
candidates are |
11 | | registered to vote. Actions of such candidates shall be
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12 | | governed in each polling place by the same privileges and |
13 | | limitations that
apply to pollwatchers as provided in this |
14 | | Section. Any such candidate who
engages in an activity in a |
15 | | polling place which could reasonably be
construed by a majority |
16 | | of the judges of election as campaign activity
shall be removed |
17 | | forthwith from such polling place.
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18 | | Candidates seeking office in a district or municipality |
19 | | encompassing 2 or
more counties who desire to be admitted to |
20 | | polling places on election day
in such district or municipality |
21 | | shall be required to have proper
credentials. Such credentials |
22 | | shall be printed in sufficient quantities,
shall be issued by |
23 | | and under the facsimile signature of the
election authority of |
24 | | the election jurisdiction where the polling place in
which the |
25 | | candidate seeks admittance is located, and shall be available |
26 | | for
distribution at least 2 weeks prior to the election. Such |
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1 | | credentials shall
be signed by the candidate.
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2 | | Candidate credentials shall be in substantially the |
3 | | following form:
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4 | | CANDIDATE CREDENTIALS
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5 | | TO THE JUDGES OF ELECTION:
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6 | | In accordance with the provisions of the Election Code, I |
7 | | ...... (name of
candidate) hereby certify that I am a candidate |
8 | | for ....... (name of
office) and seek admittance to ....... |
9 | | precinct of the ....... ward (if
applicable) of the ....... |
10 | | (township or municipality) of ....... at the
....... election |
11 | | to be held on (insert date).
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12 | | ......................... .......................
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13 | | (Signature of Candidate) OFFICE FOR WHICH
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14 | | CANDIDATE SEEKS
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15 | | NOMINATION OR
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16 | | ELECTION
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17 | | Pollwatchers shall be permitted to observe all proceedings |
18 | | and view all reasonably requested records relating
to the |
19 | | conduct of the election, provided the secrecy of the ballot is |
20 | | not impinged, and to station themselves in a position
in the |
21 | | voting room as will enable them to observe the judges making |
22 | | the
signature comparison between the voter application and the |
23 | | voter
registration record card; provided, however, that such |
24 | | pollwatchers
shall not be permitted to station themselves in |
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1 | | such close proximity to
the judges of election so as to |
2 | | interfere with the orderly conduct of
the election and shall |
3 | | not, in any event, be permitted to handle
election materials. |
4 | | Pollwatchers may challenge for cause the voting
qualifications |
5 | | of a person offering to vote and may call to the
attention of |
6 | | the judges of election any incorrect procedure or apparent
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7 | | violations of this Code.
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8 | | If a majority of the judges of election determine that the |
9 | | polling
place has become too overcrowded with pollwatchers so |
10 | | as to interfere
with the orderly conduct of the election, the |
11 | | judges shall, by lot,
limit such pollwatchers to a reasonable |
12 | | number, except that each
established or new political party |
13 | | shall be permitted to have at least
one pollwatcher present.
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14 | | Representatives of an election authority, with regard to an |
15 | | election
under its jurisdiction, the State Board of Elections, |
16 | | and law
enforcement agencies, including but not limited to a |
17 | | United States
Attorney, a State's attorney, the Attorney |
18 | | General, and a State, county,
or local police department, in |
19 | | the performance of their official
election duties, shall be |
20 | | permitted at all times to enter and remain in
the polling |
21 | | place. Upon entering the polling place, such
representatives |
22 | | shall display their official credentials or other
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23 | | identification to the judges of election.
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24 | | Uniformed police officers assigned to polling place duty |
25 | | shall follow
all lawful instructions of the judges of election.
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26 | | The provisions of this Section shall also apply to |