Sen. Don Harmon

Filed: 5/26/2011

 

 


 

 


 
09700HB0363sam004LRB097 03253 HLH 56328 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 363

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 363, AS AMENDED,
3immediately below the enacting clause, by inserting the
4following:
 
5    "Section 3. The Election Code is amended by changing
6Section 7-41 as follows:
 
7    (10 ILCS 5/7-41)  (from Ch. 46, par. 7-41)
8    Sec. 7-41. (a) All officers upon whom is imposed by law the
9duty of designating and providing polling places for general
10elections, shall provide in each such polling place so
11designated and provided, a sufficient number of booths for such
12primary election, which booths shall be provided with shelves,
13such supplies and pencils as will enable the voter to prepare
14his ballot for voting and in which voters may prepare their
15ballots screened from all observation as to the manner in which
16they do so. Such booths shall be within plain view of the

 

 

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1election officers and both they and the ballot boxes shall be
2within plain view of those within the proximity of the voting
3booths. No person other than election officers and the
4challengers allowed by law and those admitted for the purpose
5of voting, as hereinafter provided, shall be permitted within
6the proximity of the voting booths, except by authority of the
7primary officers to keep order and enforce the law.
8    (b) The number of such voting booths shall not be less than
9one to every seventy-five voters or fraction thereof, who voted
10at the last preceding election in the precinct or election
11district.
12    (c) No person shall do any electioneering or soliciting of
13votes on primary day within any polling place or within one
14hundred feet of any polling place, or, at the option of a
15church or private school, on any of the property of that church
16or private school that is a polling place. Election officers
17shall place 2 or more cones, small United States national
18flags, or some other marker a distance of 100 horizontal feet
19from each entrance to the room used by voters to engage in
20voting, which shall be known as the polling room. If the
21polling room is located within a building that is a private
22business, a public or private school, or a church or other
23organization founded for the purpose of religious worship and
24the distance of 100 horizontal feet ends within the interior of
25the building, then the markers shall be placed outside of the
26building at each entrance used by voters to enter that building

 

 

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1on the grounds adjacent to the thoroughfare or walkway. If the
2polling room is located within a public or private building
3with 2 or more floors and the polling room is located on the
4ground floor, then the markers shall be placed 100 horizontal
5feet from each entrance to the polling room used by voters to
6engage in voting. If the polling room is located in a public or
7private building with 2 or more floors and the polling room is
8located on a floor above or below the ground floor, then the
9markers shall be placed a distance of 100 feet from the nearest
10elevator or staircase used by voters on the ground floor to
11access the floor where the polling room is located. The area
12within where the markers are placed shall be known as a
13campaign free zone, and electioneering is prohibited pursuant
14to this subsection. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
15Section, a church or private school may choose to apply the
16campaign free zone to its entire property, and, if so, the
17markers shall be placed near the boundaries on the grounds
18adjacent to the thoroughfares or walkways leading to the
19entrances used by the voters. At or near the door of each
20polling place, the election judges shall place signage
21indicating the proper entrance to the polling place. In
22addition, the election judges shall ensure that a sign
23identifying the location of the polling place is placed on a
24nearby public roadway. The State Board of Elections shall
25establish guidelines for the placement of polling place
26signage.

 

 

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1    The area on polling place property beyond the campaign free
2zone, whether publicly or privately owned, including
3immediately adjacent sidewalks and parkways, is a public forum
4for the time that the polls are open on an election day. At the
5request of election officers any publicly owned building must
6be made available for use as a polling place. A person shall
7have the right to congregate and engage in electioneering on
8any polling place property while the polls are open beyond the
9campaign free zone, including but not limited to, the placement
10of temporary signs. This subsection shall be construed
11liberally in favor of persons engaging in electioneering on all
12polling place property beyond the campaign free zone for the
13time that the polls are open on an election day.
14    (d) The regulation of electioneering on polling place
15property on an election day, including but not limited to the
16placement of temporary signs, is an exclusive power and
17function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate
18electioneering and any ordinance or local law contrary to
19subsection (c) is declared void. This is a denial and
20limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection
21(h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
22(Source: P.A. 95-699, eff. 11-9-07.)".