SB2745 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB099 16643 MLM 40981 b

99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB2745

Introduced 2/16/2016, by Sen. Don Harmon

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

10 ILCS 5/10-10.1	from Ch. 46, par. 10-10.1
105 ILCS 5/9-10	from Ch. 122, par. 9-10

Amends the Election Code. Provides that a party seeking judicial review of decisions of an electoral board must serve a copy of the court petition with the election authority. Amends the School Code. Removes provisions that the county clerk or the county board of election shall receive and file only those petitions for members of a board of education that include certain documents. 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 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section 10-10.1 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/10-10.1) (from Ch. 46, par. 10-10.1)

Sec. 10-10.1. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, a candidate or objector aggrieved by the decision of an electoral board may secure judicial review of such decision in the circuit court of the county in which the hearing of the electoral board was held. The party seeking judicial review must file a petition with the clerk of the court and must serve a copy of the petition upon the electoral board, the election authority, and other parties to the proceeding by registered or certified mail within 5 days after service of the decision of the electoral board as provided in Section 10-10. The petition shall contain a brief statement of the reasons why the decision of the board should be reversed. The petitioner shall file proof of service with the clerk of the court. No answer to the petition need be filed, but the electoral board shall cause the record of proceedings before the electoral board to be filed with the clerk of the court on or before the date of the hearing on the petition or as ordered by the court.

The court shall set the matter for hearing to be held within 30 days after the filing of the petition and shall make its decision promptly after such hearing.

(b) An objector or proponent aggrieved by the decision of an electoral board regarding a petition filed pursuant to Section 18-120 of the Property Tax Code may secure a review of such decision by the State Board of Elections. The party seeking such review must file a petition therefor with the State Board of Elections within 10 days after the decision of the electoral board. Any such objector or proponent may apply for and obtain judicial review of a decision of the State Board of Elections entered under this amendatory Act of 1985, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Review Law, as amended.

(Source: P.A. 96-1008, eff. 7-6-10.)

Section 10. The School Code is amended by changing Section 9-10 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/9-10) (from Ch. 122, par. 9-10)

Sec. 9-10. Candidates for office - Nominating petitions. Candidates for the office of school director shall be nominated by petition signed by at least 25 voters or 5% of the voters, whichever is less, residing within the district and filed with the county clerk or the county board of election commissioners, as the case may be, of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located.

Nominations for members of boards of education, including non-high school boards of education shall be made by a petition signed by at least 50 voters or 10% of the voters, whichever is less, residing within the district and shall be filed with the county clerk or the county board of election commissioners, as the case may be, of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located. In addition to the requirements of the general election law, the form of such petitions shall be substantially as follows:

NOMINATING PETITIONS

(LEAVE OUT THE INAPPLICABLE PART.)

To the (County Clerk or County Board of Election Commissioners) .... of .... County:

We the undersigned, being (.... or more) (or 10% or more) (or 5% or more) of the voters residing within said district, hereby petition that .... who resides at .... in the (city or village) of .... in Township .... (or who resides outside any city, village or incorporated town and in Township ....) in said district shall be a candidate for the office of .... of the board of education (or board of directors) (full term) (vacancy) to be voted for at the election to be held on (insert date).

Name: .................. Address: ...................

In the designation of the name of a candidate on a petition for nomination, the candidate's given name or names, initial or initials, a nickname by which the candidate is commonly known, or a combination thereof may be used in addition to the candidate's surname. If a candidate has changed his or her name, whether by a statutory or common law procedure in Illinois or any other jurisdiction, within 3 years before the last day for filing the petition, then (i) the candidate's name on the petition must be followed by "formerly known as (list all prior names during the 3-year period) until name changed on (list date of each such name change)" and (ii) the petition must be accompanied by the candidate's affidavit stating the candidate's previous names during the period specified in clause (i) and the date or dates each of those names was changed; failure to meet these requirements shall be grounds for denying certification of the candidate's name for the ballot, but these requirements do not apply to name changes resulting from adoption to assume an adoptive parent's or parents' surname, marriage to assume a spouse's surname, or dissolution of marriage or declaration of invalidity of marriage to assume a former surname. No other designation, such as a political slogan, as defined by Section 7-17 of the Election Code, title or degree, or nickname suggesting or implying possession of a title, degree or professional status, or similar information may be used in connection with the candidate's surname.

Nomination papers filed under this Section are not valid unless the candidate named therein files with the county clerk or the county board of election commissioners, as the case may be, of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located a receipt from the county clerk showing that the candidate has filed a statement of economic interests as required by the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. Such receipt shall be so filed either previously during the calendar year in which his nomination papers were filed or within the period for the filing of nomination papers in accordance with the general election law.

All petitions for the nomination of members of a board of education shall be filed with the county clerk or the county board of election commissioners, as the case may be, of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located within the time provided for by the general election law. The county clerk or the county board of election commissioners shall receive and file only those petitions which include a statement of candidacy, the required number of voter signatures, the notarized signature of the petition circulator and a receipt from the County Clerk showing that the candidate has filed a statement of economic interest on or before the last day to file as required by the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. The county clerk or the county board of election commissioners may have petition forms available for issuance to potential candidates, and may give notice of the petition filing period by publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the school district not less than 10 days prior to the first day of filing. The county clerk or the county board of election commissioners shall make certification to the proper election authorities in accordance with the general election law.

The county clerk or the county board of election commissioners, as the case may be, of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located shall notify the candidates for whom a petition for nomination is filed or the appropriate committee of the obligations under the Campaign Financing Act as provided in the general election law. Such notice shall be given on a form prescribed by the State Board of Elections and in accordance with the requirements of the general election law. The county clerk or county board of election commissioners shall within 7 days of filing or on the last day for filing, whichever is earlier, acknowledge to the petitioner in writing the office's acceptance of the petition.

A candidate for membership on the board of education or for office as a school director, who has petitioned for nomination to fill a full term and to fill a vacant term to be voted upon at the same election, must withdraw his or her petition for nomination from either the full term or the vacant term by written declaration.

In all newly organized districts the petition for the nomination of candidates for members of the board of education at the first election shall be addressed to and filed with the regional superintendent of schools in the manner herein specified for the petitions for members of a board of education. For such election the regional superintendent shall fulfill all duties otherwise assigned to the secretary of the board of education.

(Source: P.A. 98-115, eff. 7-29-13.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.