SB2268 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 26374 BMS 57022 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2268

Introduced 2/10/2023, by Sen. Omar Aquino

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 20/2	from Ch. 1, par. 103
5 ILCS 20/4	from Ch. 1, par. 106
10 ILCS 5/16-3	from Ch. 46, par. 16-3
10 ILCS 5/16-6	from Ch. 46, par. 16-6

Amends the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act. Provides that at least 2 months before the next election of members of the General Assembly, following the passage of a proposed amendment, the Secretary of State shall publish the amendment in a specified number of newspapers of general circulation in every county in the State in which a newspaper is published and its digital equivalent (instead of only newspapers of general circulation in every county in the State in which a newspaper is published). Provides that at the election, a proposed amendment and explanation shall be printed on the top of the ballot preceding all nominations of any political party (instead of upon a separate ballot). Amends the Election Code. Provides that whenever one or more proposals for amendment of the constitution or the calling of a constitutional convention or any combination thereof is or are to be voted upon by the people, the proposition or propositions for the adoption or rejection of such amendment or amendments or convention shall be submitted upon the same, single "Official Ballot" containing the names of candidates for State and other offices to be voted at such election (instead of a ballot separate from the "Official Ballot"). Provides that a proposal for amendment of the constitution or the calling of a constitutional amendment or any combination thereof shall be printed at the top of the "Official Ballot" preceding the names of candidates for State and other offices to be voted at such election; and that the proposition or propositions shall be printed upon plain white paper with no shading, highlighting, or other distinct markings and shall include the official title of the section so named to be added or amended in the Constitution. Provides that included with the ballot (instead of on the back or outside of the ballot so as to appear when folded) there shall be a printed notice with the words "CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT" (instead of "CONSTITUTION BALLOT"). Removes language concerning a separate ballot. Makes other changes.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act is amended by changing Sections 2 and 4 as follows:

(5 ILCS 20/2) (from Ch. 1, par. 103)

Sec. 2. (a) The General Assembly in submitting an amendment to the Constitution to the electors, or the proponents of an amendment to Article IV of the Constitution submitted by petition, shall prepare a brief explanation of such amendment, a brief argument in favor of the same, and the form in which such amendment will appear on the separate ballot as provided by Section 16-6 of the Election Code, as amended. The minority of the General Assembly, or if there is no minority, anyone designated by the General Assembly shall prepare a brief argument against such amendment. The explanation, the arguments for and against each constitutional amendment, and the form in which the amendment will appear on the separate ballot shall be approved by a joint resolution of the General Assembly and filed in the office of the Secretary of State with the proposed amendment.

(b) In the case of an amendment to Article IV of the Constitution initiated pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIV of the Constitution, the proponents shall be those persons so designated at the time of the filing of the petition as provided in Section 10-8 of the Election Code, and the opponents shall be those members of the General Assembly opposing such amendment, or if there are none, anyone designated by the General Assembly and such opponents shall prepare a brief argument against such amendment. The proponent's explanation and argument in favor of and the opponents argument against an amendment to Article IV initiated by petition must be submitted to the Attorney General, who may rewrite them for accuracy and fairness. The explanation, the arguments for and against each constitutional amendment, and the form in which the amendment will appear on the separate ballot shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State with the proposed amendment.

(c) At least 2 months before the next election of members of the General Assembly, following the passage of the proposed amendment, the Secretary of State shall publish the amendment, in full in 8 point type, or the equivalent thereto, in at least one secular newspaper of general circulation in every county in this State in which a newspaper is published and its digital equivalent. In counties in which 2 or more newspapers are published, the Secretary of State shall cause such amendment to be published in 2 newspapers and their digital equivalent. In counties having a population of 500,000 or more, such amendment shall be published in not less than 6 newspapers of general circulation and their digital equivalent. After the first publication, the publication of such amendment shall be repeated once each week for 2 consecutive weeks. In selecting newspapers in which to publish such amendment the Secretary of State shall have regard solely to the circulation of such newspapers, selecting secular newspapers in every case having the largest circulation. The proposed amendment shall have a notice prefixed thereto in said publications, that at such election the proposed amendment will be submitted to the electors for adoption or rejection, and at the end of the official publication, he shall also publish the form in which the proposed amendment will appear on the separate ballot. The Secretary of State shall fix the publication fees to be paid newspapers for making such publication, but in no case shall such publication fee exceed the amount charged by such newspapers to private individuals for a like publication.

(d) In addition to the notice hereby required to be published, the Secretary of State shall also cause the existing form of the constitutional provision proposed to be amended, the proposed amendment, the explanation of the same, the arguments for and against the same, and the form in which such amendment will appear on the separate ballot, to be published in pamphlet form in 8 point type or the equivalent thereto in English, in additional languages as required by Section 203 of Title III of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in braille. The Secretary of State shall publish the pamphlet on the Secretary's website in a downloadable, printable format and maintain a reasonable supply of printed pamphlets to be available upon request. The Secretary of State shall publish an audio version of the pamphlet, which shall be available for playback on the Secretary's website and made available to any individual or entity upon request.

(e) Except as provided in subsection (f), the Secretary of State shall mail such pamphlet to every mailing address in the State, addressed to the attention of the Postal Patron. He shall also maintain a reasonable supply of such pamphlets so as to make them available to any person requesting one.

(f) For any proposed constitutional amendment appearing on the ballot for the general election on November 8, 2022, the Secretary of State, in lieu of the requirement in subsection (e) of this Act, shall mail a postcard to every mailing address in the State advising that a proposed constitutional amendment will be considered at the general election. The postcard shall include a URL to the Secretary of State's website that contains the information required in subsection (d).

(Source: P.A. 102-699, eff. 4-19-22.)

(5 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 1, par. 106)

Sec. 4. At the election, the proposed amendment and explanation shall be printed on the top of the "Official Ballot" preceding all nominations of any political party upon a single the separate ballot in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-6 of the Election Code "An Act concerning elections," approved May 11, 1943, as amended.

(Source: Laws 1949, p. 18.)

Section 10. The Election Code is amended by changing Sections 16-3 and 16-6 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/16-3) (from Ch. 46, par. 16-3)

Sec. 16-3. (a) The names of all candidates to be voted for in each election district or precinct shall be printed on one ballot, except as is provided in Sections 16-6, 16-6.1, and 21-1.01 of this Code Act and except as otherwise provided in this Code Act with respect to the odd year regular elections and the emergency referenda; all nominations of any political party being placed under the party appellation or title of such party as designated in the certificates of nomination or petitions. The names of all independent candidates shall be printed upon the ballot in a column or columns under the heading "independent" arranged under the names or titles of the respective offices for which such independent candidates shall have been nominated and so far as practicable, the name or names of any independent candidate or candidates for any office shall be printed upon the ballot opposite the name or names of any candidate or candidates for the same office contained in any party column or columns upon said ballot. The ballot shall contain no other names, except that in cases of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, the names of the candidates for President and Vice-President may be added to the party designation and words calculated to aid the voter in his choice of candidates may be added, such as "Vote for one," "Vote for not more than three." If no candidate or candidates file for an office and if no person or persons file a declaration as a write-in candidate for that office, then below the title of that office the election authority instead shall print "No Candidate". When an electronic voting system is used which utilizes a ballot label booklet, the candidates and questions shall appear on the pages of such booklet in the order provided by this Code; and, in any case where candidates for an office appear on a page which does not contain the name of any candidate for another office, and where less than 50% of the page is utilized, the name of no candidate shall be printed on the lowest 25% of such page. On the back or outside of the ballot, so as to appear when folded, shall be printed the words "Official Ballot", followed by the designation of the polling place for which the ballot is prepared, the date of the election and a facsimile of the signature of the election authority who has caused the ballots to be printed. The ballots shall be of plain white paper, through which the printing or writing cannot be read. However, ballots for use at the nonpartisan and consolidated elections may be printed on different color paper, except blue paper, whenever necessary or desirable to facilitate distinguishing between ballots for different political subdivisions. In the case of nonpartisan elections for officers of a political subdivision, unless the statute or an ordinance adopted pursuant to Article VII of the Constitution providing the form of government therefor requires otherwise, the column listing such nonpartisan candidates shall be printed with no appellation or circle at its head. The party appellation or title, or the word "independent" at the head of any column provided for independent candidates, shall be printed in letters not less than one-fourth of an inch in height and a circle one-half inch in diameter shall be printed at the beginning of the line in which such appellation or title is printed, provided, however, that no such circle shall be printed at the head of any column or columns provided for such independent candidates. The names of candidates shall be printed in letters not less than one-eighth nor more than one-fourth of an inch in height, and at the beginning of each line in which a name of a candidate is printed a square shall be printed, the sides of which shall be not less than one-fourth of an inch in length. However, the names of the candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor on the same ticket shall be printed within a bracket and a single square shall be printed in front of the bracket. The list of candidates of the several parties and any such list of independent candidates shall be placed in separate columns on the ballot in such order as the election authorities charged with the printing of the ballots shall decide; provided, that the names of the candidates of the several political parties, certified by the State Board of Elections to the several county clerks shall be printed by the county clerk of the proper county on the official ballot in the order certified by the State Board of Elections. Any county clerk refusing, neglecting or failing to print on the official ballot the names of candidates of the several political parties in the order certified by the State Board of Elections, and any county clerk who prints or causes to be printed upon the official ballot the name of a candidate, for an office to be filled by the Electors of the entire State, whose name has not been duly certified to him upon a certificate signed by the State Board of Elections shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.

(b) When an electronic voting system is used which utilizes a ballot card, on the inside flap of each ballot card envelope there shall be printed a form for write-in voting which shall be substantially as follows:

WRITE-IN VOTES

(See card of instructions for specific information. Duplicate form below by hand for additional write-in votes.)

.............................

Title of Office ( ) .............................

Name of Candidate

Write-in lines equal to the number of candidates for which a voter may vote shall be printed for an office only if one or more persons filed declarations of intent to be write-in candidates or qualify to file declarations to be write-in candidates under Sections 17-16.1 and 18-9.1 when the certification of ballot contains the words "OBJECTION PENDING".

(c) When an electronic voting system is used which uses a ballot sheet, the instructions to voters on the ballot sheet shall refer the voter to the card of instructions for specific information on write-in voting. Below each office appearing on such ballot sheet there shall be a provision for the casting of a write-in vote. Write-in lines equal to the number of candidates for which a voter may vote shall be printed for an office only if one or more persons filed declarations of intent to be write-in candidates or qualify to file declarations to be write-in candidates under Sections 17-16.1 and 18-9.1 when the certification of ballot contains the words "OBJECTION PENDING".

(d) When such electronic system is used, there shall be printed on the back of each ballot card, each ballot card envelope, and the first page of the ballot label when a ballot label is used, the words "Official Ballot," followed by the number of the precinct or other precinct identification, which may be stamped, in lieu thereof and, as applicable, the number and name of the township, ward or other election district for which the ballot card, ballot card envelope, and ballot label are prepared, the date of the election and a facsimile of the signature of the election authority who has caused the ballots to be printed. The back of the ballot card shall also include a method of identifying the ballot configuration such as a listing of the political subdivisions and districts for which votes may be cast on that ballot, or a number code identifying the ballot configuration or color coded ballots, except that where there is only one ballot configuration in a precinct, the precinct identification, and any applicable ward identification, shall be sufficient. Ballot card envelopes used in punch card systems shall be of paper through which no writing or punches may be discerned and shall be of sufficient length to enclose all voting positions. However, the election authority may provide ballot card envelopes on which no precinct number or township, ward or other election district designation, or election date are preprinted, if space and a preprinted form are provided below the space provided for the names of write-in candidates where such information may be entered by the judges of election. Whenever an election authority utilizes ballot card envelopes on which the election date and precinct is not preprinted, a judge of election shall mark such information for the particular precinct and election on the envelope in ink before tallying and counting any write-in vote written thereon. If some method of insuring ballot secrecy other than an envelope is used, such information must be provided on the ballot itself.

(e) In the designation of the name of a candidate on the ballot, 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 for nomination, nomination papers, or certificate of nomination for that office, whichever is applicable, then (i) the candidate's name on the ballot 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, papers, or certificate must be accompanied by the candidate's affidavit stating the candidate's previous names during the period specified in (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 or removing the candidate's name from the ballot, as appropriate, but these requirements do not apply to name changes resulting from adoption to assume an adoptive parent's or parents' surname, marriage or civil union to assume a spouse's surname, or dissolution of marriage or civil union or declaration of invalidity of marriage or civil union to assume a former surname or a name change that conforms the candidate's name to his or her gender identity. No other designation such as a political slogan, 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. For purposes of this Section, a "political slogan" is defined as any word or words expressing or connoting a position, opinion, or belief that the candidate may espouse, including, but not limited to, any word or words conveying any meaning other than that of the personal identity of the candidate. A candidate may not use a political slogan as part of his or her name on the ballot, notwithstanding that the political slogan may be part of the candidate's name.

(f) The State Board of Elections, a local election official, or an election authority shall remove any candidate's name designation from a ballot that is inconsistent with subsection (e) of this Section. In addition, the State Board of Elections, a local election official, or an election authority shall not certify to any election authority any candidate name designation that is inconsistent with subsection (e) of this Section.

(g) If the State Board of Elections, a local election official, or an election authority removes a candidate's name designation from a ballot under subsection (f) of this Section, then the aggrieved candidate may seek appropriate relief in circuit court.

Where voting machines or electronic voting systems are used, the provisions of this Section may be modified as required or authorized by Article 24 or Article 24A, whichever is applicable.

Nothing in this Section shall prohibit election authorities from using or reusing ballot card envelopes which were printed before January 1, 1986 (the effective date of Public Act 84-820) this amendatory Act of 1985.

(Source: P.A. 102-15, eff. 6-17-21; revised 2-28-22.)

(10 ILCS 5/16-6) (from Ch. 46, par. 16-6)

Sec. 16-6. Whenever one or more proposals for amendment of the constitution or the calling of a constitutional convention or any combination thereof is or are to be voted upon by the people, the proposition or propositions for the adoption or rejection of such amendment or amendments or convention shall be submitted upon the same, single a ballot separate from the "Official Ballot" containing the names of candidates for State and other offices to be voted at such election. Such proposition or propositions shall be printed at the top of the "Official Ballot" preceding the names of candidates for State and other offices to be voted at such election. Such proposition or propositions shall be printed upon plain white paper with no shading, highlighting, or other distinct markings and shall include the official title of the section so named to be added or amended in the Constitution. Such separate ballot shall be printed upon paper of a distinctly blue color and shall, as near as may be practicable, be of uniform size and blue color, but any variation in the size of such ballots or in the tincture of blue employed shall not affect or impair the validity thereof. Preceding each proposal to amend the constitution shall be printed the brief explanation of the amendment, prepared by the General Assembly, or in the case of a proposed amendment initiated by petition pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIV of the Constitution of the State of Illinois by the principal proponents of the amendment as approved by the Attorney General, and immediately below the explanation, the proposition shall be printed in substantially the following form:

-------------------------------------------------------------

YES For the proposed amendment - ---------- to Article ______ (or Section NO _______ of Article ______) of the Constitution.

-------------------------------------------------------------

In the case of a proposition for the calling of a constitutional convention, such proposition shall be printed in substantially the following form:

-------------------------------------------------------------

YES For the calling - ---------- of a Constitutional NO Convention.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Included with the ballot there On the back or outside of the ballot so as to appear when folded, shall be a printed notice with the words "CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BALLOT", followed by the designation of the polling place for which the ballot is prepared, the date of the election and a facsimile of the signature of the clerk or other officer who has caused the ballots to be printed. Immediately above the words "CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BALLOT" in the case of a proposition for the calling of a constitutional convention or a proposition to amend the Constitution the following legend shall be printed in bold face type:

"NOTICE

THE FAILURE TO VOTE THIS BALLOT MAY BE THE EQUIVALENT OF A NEGATIVE VOTE, BECAUSE A CONVENTION SHALL BE CALLED OR THE AMENDMENT SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE IF APPROVED BY EITHER THREE-FIFTHS OF THOSE VOTING ON THE QUESTION OR A MAJORITY OF THOSE VOTING IN THE ELECTION. (THIS IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A DIRECTION THAT YOUR VOTE IS REQUIRED TO BE CAST EITHER IN FAVOR OF OR IN OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSITION HEREIN CONTAINED.)

WHETHER YOU VOTE THIS BALLOT OR NOT YOU MUST RETURN IT TO THE ELECTION JUDGE WHEN YOU LEAVE THE VOTING BOOTH".

If a proposition for the calling of a constitutional convention is submitted at the same election as one or more propositions to amend the constitution, the proposition for the calling of a constitutional convention shall be printed at the top of the ballot. In such case, the constitution amendment notice the back or outside of the ballot shall be printed the same as if it were a proposal solely to amend the constitution.

Where voting machines or electronic voting systems are used, the provisions of this Section may be modified as required or authorized by Article 24 or Article 24A, whichever is applicable.

(Source: P.A. 97-766, eff. 7-6-12.)