101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB5182

 

Introduced , by Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
10 ILCS 5/25-6  from Ch. 46, par. 25-6

    Amends the Election Code. Provides the procedure for filling a vacancy of a Senator or Representative in the General Assembly. Provide that within 3 days after a vacancy, the committee for that legislative or representative district shall create a uniform application for candidates seeking appointment and determine the date, time, and location at which the committee shall make the appointment (allowing for at least 7 days of public notice). Provides that applications received within 2 days before the appointment shall be made publicly available. Provides that candidates shall be granted an opportunity to present their credentials publicly and take questions from the committeepersons. Provides for a proxy for a committeeperson that is ineligible to vote for an appointment. Effective immediately.


LRB101 18734 SMS 68189 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5182LRB101 18734 SMS 68189 b

1    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section
525-6 as follows:
 
6    (10 ILCS 5/25-6)  (from Ch. 46, par. 25-6)
7    Sec. 25-6. (a) When a vacancy occurs in the office of State
8Senator or Representative in the General Assembly, the vacancy
9shall be filled within 30 days by appointment of the
10legislative or representative committee of that legislative or
11representative district of the political party of which the
12incumbent was a candidate at the time of his election, as
13provided in subsection (a-5). The appointee shall be a member
14of the same political party as the person he succeeds was at
15the time of his election, and shall be otherwise eligible to
16serve as a member of the General Assembly.
17    (a-5) Within 3 days after a vacancy occurring in the office
18of State Senator or Representative in the General Assembly, the
19legislative or representative committee of that legislative or
20representative district shall convene to: (i) create a uniform
21application for all candidates seeking appointment to the
22vacated office; and (ii) determine the date, time, and location
23at which the committee shall make its appointment, provided the

 

 

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1date selected allows for at least 7 days of public notice
2before the appointment will occur. The uniform application
3shall be made publicly available by all committeepersons of the
4legislative or representative district. Applications received
5within 2 days before the appointment shall be made publicly
6available on the website of the committeeperson holding the
7majority of the votes pursuant to subsection (d). If 2 or more
8committeepersons hold the majority of votes or in making
9appointments in legislative or representative districts
10comprising only one county or part of a county other than a
11county containing 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, all such
12committeepersons shall be responsible for making applications
13received within 2 days before the appointment publicly
14available. On the day selected by the committee for
15appointment, all candidates seeking appointment shall be
16granted an opportunity to present their credentials publicly to
17all in attendance and take questions from committeepersons.
18    (a-10) If a committeeperson is ineligible to cast his or
19her vote pursuant to subsection (d-5), because he or she is
20also the former holder of the office now vacant, the
21legislative or representative committee on which the former
22officeholder serves as a committeeperson shall meet to elect a
23proxy member to vote for the ineligible committeeperson. The
24proxy shall be entitled to the same number of votes to which
25the ineligible committeeperson would have otherwise been
26entitled.

 

 

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1    (b) When a vacancy occurs in the office of a legislator
2elected other than as a candidate of a political party, the
3vacancy shall be filled within 30 days of such occurrence by
4appointment of the Governor. The appointee shall not be a
5member of a political party, and shall be otherwise eligible to
6serve as a member of the General Assembly. Provided, however,
7the appropriate body of the General Assembly may, by
8resolution, allow a legislator elected other than as a
9candidate of a political party to affiliate with a political
10party for his term of office in the General Assembly. A vacancy
11occurring in the office of any such legislator who affiliates
12with a political party pursuant to resolution shall be filled
13within 30 days of such occurrence by appointment of the
14appropriate legislative or representative committee of that
15legislative or representative district of the political party
16with which the legislator so affiliates. The appointee shall be
17a member of the political party with which the incumbent
18affiliated.
19    (c) For purposes of this Section, a person is a member of a
20political party for 23 months after (i) signing a candidate
21petition, as to the political party whose nomination is sought;
22(ii) signing a statement of candidacy, as to the political
23party where nomination or election is sought; (iii) signing a
24Petition of Political Party Formation, as to the proposed
25political party; (iv) applying for and receiving a primary
26ballot, as to the political party whose ballot is received; or

 

 

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1(v) becoming a candidate for election to or accepting
2appointment to the office of ward, township, precinct or state
3central committeeperson.
4    (d) In making appointments under this Section, except as
5provided in subsection (d-5), each committeeperson of the
6appropriate legislative or representative committee shall be
7entitled to one vote for each vote that was received, in that
8portion of the legislative or representative district which he
9represents on the committee, by the Senator or Representative
10whose seat is vacant at the general election at which that
11legislator was elected to the seat which has been vacated and a
12majority of the total number of votes received in such election
13by the Senator or Representative whose seat is vacant is
14required for the appointment of his successor; provided,
15however, that in making appointments in legislative or
16representative districts comprising only one county or part of
17a county other than a county containing 2,000,000 or more
18inhabitants, each committeeperson shall be entitled to cast
19only one vote.
20    (d-5) A State Senator or Representative who is also a
21committeeperson, elected pursuant to subsection (b) of Section
227-8, is prohibited from participating in the appointment of his
23or her successor. If the vacancy in the office of State Senator
24or Representative is to be filled by the legislative or
25representative committee on which the former officeholder
26serves as a committeeperson, he or she shall not participate in

 

 

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1the selection process or cast any votes for a candidate. Any
2votes he or she would have voted pursuant to subsection (d)
3shall be voted by the proxy member elected by the other
4committeepersons of the legislative or representative
5committee, pursuant to subsection (a-10).
6    (e) Appointments made under this Section shall be in
7writing and shall be signed by members of the legislative or
8representative committee whose total votes are sufficient to
9make the appointments or by the Governor, as the case may be.
10Such appointments shall be filed with the Secretary of State
11and with the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the
12Secretary of the Senate, whichever is appropriate.
13    (f) An appointment made under this Section shall be for the
14remainder of the term, except that, if the appointment is to
15fill a vacancy in the office of State Senator and the vacancy
16occurs with more than 28 months remaining in the term, the term
17of the appointment shall expire at the time of the next general
18election at which time a Senator shall be elected for a new
19term commencing on the determination of the results of the
20election and ending on the second Wednesday of January in the
21second odd-numbered year next occurring. Whenever a Senator has
22been appointed to fill a vacancy and was thereafter elected to
23that office, the term of service under the authority of the
24election shall be considered a new term of service, separate
25from the term of service rendered under the authority of the
26appointment.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 100-1027, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.