HB2785 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 03842 JAM 23873 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB2785

Introduced 2/26/2007, by Rep. Roger L. Eddy

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

See Index

Amends the Election Code. Requires that election ballots listing candidates for office include a choice "None of the Above; For a New Election". Requires that for any office for which "none of the above" receives the greatest number of votes, a None of the Above (NOTA) election must be held within 60 to 80 days. Prohibits any of the losing candidates from running in the NOTA election for that office. Provides for the nomination of NOTA election candidates and the distribution to voters of NOTA election candidate statements. Provides for temporary appointments to offices pending NOTA elections. Does not apply to candidates and electors for President and Vice President, but requires that a "Prefer None of the Above" choice appear on the ballot for those offices. Does not apply to primary ballots.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

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 adding the heading of Article 19B and Sections 19B-5, 19B-10, 19B-15, 19B-20, 19B-25, 19B-30, 19B-35, 19B-40, 19B-45, 19B-50, 19B-55, 19B-60, 19B-65, 19B-70, 19B-75, 19B-80, 19B-85, 19B-90, 19B-95, 19B-145, 19B-150, and 19B-200 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/Art. 19B heading new)

ARTICLE 19B. ELECTIONS WITH VOTER CONSENT

"NONE OF THE ABOVE" OPTIONS

(10 ILCS 5/19B-5 new)

Sec. 19B-5. None of the Above on the ballot. On all ballots electing a candidate to office, other than primary ballots and other than the offices of United States President and Vice President and their electors, there shall appear, after the list of candidates for each office, a votable line identified with the words "None of the Above; For a New Election".

A voter may choose to vote for "None of the Above; For a New Election" instead of voting for a candidate. If a voter may vote for multiple candidates for an office, a vote for "None of the Above; For a New Election" counts as one vote. Votes cast for "None of the Above; For a New Election" shall be counted and reported as are votes for listed candidates.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-10 new)

Sec. 19B-10. When a candidate receives fewer votes than None of the Above. Any candidate for office who receives fewer votes than the votes cast for "None of the Above; For a New Election" for that office shall not be elected.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-15 new)

Sec. 19B-15. None of the Above (NOTA) election. In any election where no candidate is elected to an office because of votes cast for "None of the Above; For a New Election", a None of the Above (NOTA) election shall be held to fill that office not less than 60 days and not more than 80 days after the prior election.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-20 new)

Sec. 19B-20. Election of the President of the United States. In elections to the offices of President and Vice President of the United States and their electors, "Prefer None of the Above" shall appear after the list of candidates. Voters may choose to vote both for "Prefer None of the Above" as well as for a candidate. Votes cast for "Prefer None of the Above" shall be counted and reported in the same manner as are votes for listed candidates but shall not otherwise affect the election outcome.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-25 new)

Sec. 19B-25. Statement about NOTA options. The State Board of Elections shall prepare a statement titled "Your Voter Consent Ballot Options", to be displayed so it is legible to voters at the polling place prior to voting as well as within each voting booth, indicating the options available to the voter. For example, the statement may contain the following: "Your Voter Consent Ballot Options:

YOU MAY VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE OR "None of the Above; For a New Election".

O Candidate A O Candidate B O None of the Above; For a New Election

When "None of the Above; For a New Election" appears on the ballot after the list of candidates for an office, then you may vote for "None of the Above; For a New Election" instead of voting for a candidate. If you may vote for more than one candidate for an office, then a vote for "None of the Above; For a New Election" counts as one vote.

If "None of the Above; For a New Election" receives more votes for an office than any candidate, then no one is elected to that office and a new election with new candidates must be held, not less than 60 days and not more that 80 days after this election, to fill the office.

YOU MAY VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE AND FOR "Prefer None of the Above".

O Candidate A O Candidate B O Prefer None of the Above

When "Prefer None of the Above" appears on the ballot after the list of candidates for an office, you may vote for a candidate and also vote for "Prefer None of the Above". Voting for "Prefer None of the Above" indicates you found no listed candidate acceptable.

The "Prefer None of the Above" votes are counted and reported; however, the candidate for an office with the most votes is elected whatever the "Prefer None of the Above" vote.".

(10 ILCS 5/19B-30 new)

Sec. 19B-30. Temporary appointment to offices and assignment of duties. Temporary appointment to offices, pending NOTA elections and an elected candidate taking office, required to execute the duties of an office, may be made by majority vote of the governing body of a political subdivision, for offices of that political subdivision, or by the Governor, for all other offices; provided that the person so appointed is either the office's current incumbent or would be otherwise eligible for election to that office. Temporary appointment to the office of Governor shall be by joint resolution of the General Assembly adopted by majority vote of the elected members of each house. No temporary appointment under this Section shall be made to the offices of State Representative, State Senator, United States Representative, and United States Senator.

If no appointment is made by the day before expiration of an office's current term, the office's incumbent is appointed by default.

In elections to the office of county clerk, or an office for which the incumbent county clerk is a candidate, in election jurisdictions where the county clerk is the election authority the duties normally performed by the election authority under this Code shall be performed by the office of the county clerk under the direction of the State's Attorney for that election jurisdiction.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-35 new)

Sec. 19B-35. Campaign finance reporting. Candidates in a NOTA election must conform to the same, or equivalent, campaign financing and reporting requirements as a candidate for that office in a non-NOTA election. Campaign financing and reporting for activities related to the issue of voters voting for "None of the Above; For a New Election", or for "Prefer None of the Above", shall have the same, or equivalent, requirements as a ballot question. All such requirements shall be subject to those changes necessary, as determined by the State Board of Elections, to adjust for the varying election dates and campaign durations of NOTA elections, provided those changes adhere to the original intent of those requirements and avoid unreasonable burden to election participants.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-40 new)

Sec. 19B-40. Nomination of candidates. Any person who is eligible for nomination as a candidate in a non-NOTA election for an office shall be eligible for nomination as a candidate in a NOTA election for that office, provided the person did not receive, as a listed candidate in a prior election for the same office and term, fewer votes than those cast for "None of the Above; For a New Election" for the office.

All candidates for office in NOTA elections shall be nominated to be listed on the ballot either by nominating petition or by receiving a requisite number of write-in votes in the prior election for that office.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-45 new)

Sec. 19B-45. Nomination by petition; eligibility to sign petitions; collecting signatures at polling places. The nomination period for a NOTA election shall commence on the day of the prior election. The nomination period shall continue for 14 days after the results of the prior election for that office are officially announced as provided in this Code.

Voters eligible to vote in the NOTA election for an office are eligible to sign, once for each nomination, one or more nominating petitions for one or more candidates for that office during the nomination period.

Signatures for nominating petitions may be gathered at polling places, provided they are gathered in one, or 2 if required, petition areas that shall be reserved at each polling place for that purpose, in a manner that provides easy access for voters wishing to sign the petitions or not, and in a manner so that voters shall pass by those collecting nominating signatures before and after voting.

Any person collecting nominating signatures at a polling place for one or more petitions, referred to in this Article as a collector, must be registered to vote at that polling place. A collector may assist in the gathering of signatures for any nominating petition. No signed petition may be removed from a petition area, except, after the polls close, by the election judges, who shall deliver all signed petitions to the election authority for signature verification.

The collector shall be seated in a chair behind a table, provided at no cost to the collector, upon which the petitions shall be placed and kept while collecting signatures. The collector shall not speak to, or otherwise communicate with, any voter unless addressed first by that voter, and shall display no sign except, optionally, one reading "Nominating Petition: <office>", where <office> shall be the name of the office for which the petition is being gathered, using letters no greater than 3 inches in height and affixed to the table in such a manner as to be visible to passing voters. The number of collectors in each petition area shall be no more than 2 per one or more petition sheets with the same candidate and party designation. A petition may be brought into and left unattended in the petition area by any person.

The petition area shall be part of the polling place, and any person failing to conform to its requirements shall be considered a disorderly person.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-50 new)

Sec. 19B-50. Nomination by write-in. An unlisted write-in candidate in the prior election may be nominated to be listed as a candidate for an office in the following NOTA election by receiving write-in votes equal to at least 10% of either: (i) the number of nominating signatures required for that office; or (ii) the total votes cast for the office in the current election. That candidate shall submit to the appropriate election authority, by the last day of the nomination period, a completed nominating petition, containing no filled in signature lines, with an attached affirmation by the candidate, stating the candidate received the requisite write-in votes for that office in the prior election. Unlisted write-in candidates who do not receive the number of write-in votes needed for nomination may seek nomination by petition.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-55 new)

Sec. 19B-55. Signature verification; number of signatures required; submitting petitions. The election authority responsible for signature verification for nominations for an office in a non-NOTA election shall be responsible for verifying that the signatures on the nominating petitions for a NOTA election are valid and of the requisite number within 14 days after the end of the nomination period.

The number of valid signatures required for nomination by petition shall be the same for all candidates for the same office and shall be the greater of (i) the number of the most signatures required for a non-NOTA election nomination for the office, divided by the number of days in the non-NOTA election nomination period, and then multiplied by the number of days in the current nomination period, and then divided by 3; or (ii) 20.

Each original nominating petition sheet shall be submitted to the offices of the same election authority as for non-NOTA elections within 3 days after the end of the nomination period.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-60 new)

Sec. 19B-60. Multiple nominations of a candidate. This Section applies to a NOTA election following a general election. In a NOTA election, if a candidate has been separately nominated with different political party designations, the candidate shall appear on the ballot separately for each nomination. The same political party designation may not appear with more candidates for an office than the number of persons to be elected to that office. The party designation of either "No Party" or "Write-In" shall be allowed once each for a candidate so nominated.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-65 new)

Sec. 19B-65. Nomination notification and acceptance. The election authority shall have delivered to each nominee, within 3 days after the nominee qualifies for the nomination, a nomination notification, notifying the nominee of the nomination, along with other materials determined by the election authority. The nominee shall respond to the nomination notification within 5 days by returning the nomination acceptance, as defined by the State Board of Elections, to the offices of the notifying election authority. Failure to respond shall be deemed an acceptance of the nomination.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-70 new)

Sec. 19B-70. Candidate statement; requirements and limitations; qualifying for distribution. To assist the voters in assessing candidates for office in NOTA elections, the election authority with whom candidates have filed petitions shall distribute candidate statements by mail to the electorate at least 7 days before the election at no cost to the candidates.

When a candidate submits a nomination acceptance for an office, the candidate may also submit a candidate statement for distribution that meets the following requirements and limitations:

(1) the statement must be a black and white statement, consisting only of spaces, letters, punctuation marks, and numeric or other textual notation, contained within both sides of a single 8.5 x 11 inch white paper sheet, and, optionally, one photograph of the candidate from the neck up no greater than 3 x 3 inches, for the purpose of allowing the candidate to communicate with the voters;

(2) the statement must be limited to identifying the candidate and, optionally, describing the candidate's qualifications for office, party affiliations, proposed policies, and contact information;

(3) the statement must be limited to one per candidate, even if the candidate receives multiple nominations for an office; and

(4) the statement must contain no solicitation for funds nor refer to other candidates.

The requirements and limitations of the candidate statement must be met, in the opinion of the receiving election authority, in order to qualify for distribution as a candidate statement.

Across the top inch of the first page of every candidate statement shall be the statement header. The statement header shall be blank except for the State seal and the words, in large font, "Candidate Statement of <candidate name> for < office>", where <candidate name> shall be the name of the candidate as it shall appear on the ballot and <office> as it shall appear on the ballot; then, in a smaller font, "Prepared by the candidate and distributed to voters without cost to the candidate by the Office of the <election authority>."; then, a line at the lower boundary of the statement header; and, anywhere within the statement header, any other content determined by the election authority. At nomination notification, the candidate shall receive sample candidate statements and an assigned statement header from the election authority that the candidate is required to use as the statement header for any candidate statement the candidate submits.

The area of the candidate statement apart from the statement header is the candidate content determined by the candidate. The election authority shall take care to distribute candidate content as submitted, except as follows: The election authority shall review each candidate statement submitted to it to ensure the statement qualifies for distribution as a candidate statement. The election authority shall have delivered to the State Board of Elections all candidate statements, along with their candidate instructions, if any, for final review, within 3 days after receipt, along with an election authority opinion, defined by the State Board of Elections, indicating whether the candidate statement meets the requirements and limits of a candidate statement.

If, in the opinion of the election authority, a candidate statement does not meet the requirements and limits of a candidate statement, the election authority Opinion shall include an explanation of the nonconformance, along with a proposed deletion notification to make the candidate statement conformant, and any other relevant document. Before submitting the election authority opinion to the State Board of Elections, the election authority may contact the candidate directly to verbally suggest changes to the candidate statement to make it conformant. If the candidate then submits one or more revised drafts, the election authority shall submit the last draft as the candidate statement, retaining prior drafts as part of the candidate statement's record.

If the State Board of Elections determine a candidate statement does not qualify for distribution because it does not meet the requirements and limits of a candidate statement, then the State Board of Elections shall have delivered to the candidate, within 10 days after the submission of the candidate statement by the candidate, a deletion notification, defined by the State Board of Elections, which shall include a copy of the candidate statement to show the deletions needed to bring the statement into compliance and a letter stating the reasons for those deletions. The State Board of Elections, or its representative, shall meet with the candidate at the offices of the State Board of Elections, upon the candidate's request, within 2 days after receipt of a request for such a meeting, to review the candidate statement with the candidate's representatives. The candidate shall have delivered to the State Board of Elections within 5 days after receipt of the deletion notification or within 2 days after such meeting, whichever is later, any or all of the following: the candidate's response to the deletion notification; a corrected candidate statement; a candidate instruction, to be defined by the State Board of Elections, in the event of a non-qualifying candidate statement, instructing the State Board of Elections either to withdraw the candidate statement completely or to distribute the original candidate statement with the deletions indicated by the deletion notification.

Changes to the candidate content by the State Board of Elections shall be by deletion only, using methods to be established in advance of the election by the State Board of Elections so as to be obvious to voters which parts of the candidate content were deleted. If the candidate fails to provide an acceptable, corrected candidate statement and fails to provide candidate instructions for such an event, the State Board of Elections shall distribute the original candidate statement with the deletions specified in the deletion notification. The State Board of Elections shall make available at its offices to any person, within one day after a written request, copies of any original candidate statement as well as any associated election authority opinion, corrected candidate statement, deletion notification, and candidate instruction, and other related documents during the election campaign and for 10 years after the election.

Whenever possible, all candidate statements for the same office shall be assembled into a single ballot pamphlet for distribution. Reference copies of the candidate statements shall be made available at polling places for voter use.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-75 new)

Sec. 19B-75. Confirming nominations. This Section applies to a NOTA election following a general election. The election authority shall confirm by party confirmation, as defined by the State Board of Elections, with the governing body of the designated political party, that the party accepts the party designation on the ballot for a candidate. If the party designation of the nomination is not accepted by the governing body of the party within 10 days after notification, or if the authority of the governing body is determined by the State Board of Elections to be in dispute, then the candidate shall be listed with a "No Party" party designation. Write-in nominations shall be designated as "Write-In", or with any other political party designation acceptable to both the candidate and the governing body of the political party.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-80 new)

Sec. 19B-80. Ballot determination; election date determination. The State Board of Elections shall determine the date, offices, and candidate lists for NOTA elections and shall announce those determinations, whenever possible, at least 30 days in advance of the date set for the NOTA election.

The State Board of Elections shall ensure, whenever possible, various NOTA elections take place throughout the State on the same day.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-85 new)

Sec. 19B-85. Counting votes; recounts. In cases of multiple listings of a candidate for an office, the number of votes cast for each listing of a candidate shall be counted and reported separately; however, the sum of all votes for a candidate for an office shall be used in determining the candidate's vote for election to the office.

A qualified write-in candidate who receives more votes than any listed candidate, more votes than any other write-in candidate, and more votes than "None of the Above; For a New Election" for that office shall be elected.

The State Board of Elections shall conduct a recount of any election where the number of votes cast for "None of the Above; For a New Election" would require, or would allow a candidate to request, a recount if that number of votes had been cast for a candidate, and otherwise act on behalf of voters who cast votes for "None of the Above; For a New Election". Delegation of this duty to the State Board of Elections shall in no way limit voters, who affirm they voted for "None of the Above; For a New Election" in an election, from also acting on behalf of themselves and other such voters.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-90 new)

Sec. 19B-90. Failure to nominate. If no candidate qualifies for nomination for an office in a NOTA election, the office shall appear on the ballot with no listed candidate with only the "None of the Above; For a New Election" line.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-95 new)

Sec. 19B-95. Nominating petition description. The NOTA election nominating petitions shall consist of 8.5 x 11 inch white paper with the first printed title line reading "NOTA Election Nominating Petition".

The next printed line shall state: "To be signed only by voters eligible to vote for the office.".

The next printed line of the petition shall state: "For the office of:", followed immediately by the title of the office, as it shall appear on the ballot, for which the candidate is to be nominated; and, followed immediately by the text "for"; and, followed by the jurisdiction of the office.

The next printed line of the petition shall state: "Nominating:", followed immediately by the candidate's legal name as it shall appear on the ballot.

The next printed line of the petition shall state: "Whose legal address is:", followed immediately by the candidate's legal address.

If the nomination is for a NOTA election following a general election, the next printed line of the petition shall state: "Political Party:", followed immediately by the name of the political party, as it shall appear on the ballot. "No Party" is permitted. "Write-In" is permitted for candidates nominated by write-in votes. "For the County or Municipality:", followed immediately by the name of the county or municipality where the petition signers must be registered to vote, shall be next.

The next printed line shall identify the appropriate columns for voters to fill out with the words "Voter's Name (print)"; "Street Address"; "Signature"; and "Date".

There shall follow 16 thin, straight lines, indicating the space for the voter to make a nomination.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-145 new)

Sec. 19B-145. State Board of Elections as election authority. References in this Article to "election authority", with respect to the powers and duties of an election authority as to NOTA election nomination petitions and candidate statements for offices whose non-NOTA election nomination petitions are filed with the State Board of Elections, shall be construed to mean the State Board of Elections.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-150 new)

Sec. 19B-150. Conflicting provisions; modifications of Code; rules. The provisions of this Article shall control over any conflicting provisions of this Code or of any other law.

In order to conduct NOTA elections in accordance with this Article, the State Board of Elections by rule may modify the time periods provided in this Code for such activities as, but not limited to, (i) voter registration, (ii) ballot certification, preparation, and printing, (iii) application for and distribution and return of absentee ballots, and (iv) early voting.

(10 ILCS 5/19B-200 new)

Sec. 19B-200. Severability. The provisions of this Article are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.