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91_HB0040
LRB9100060JMtm
1 AN ACT to amend the Election Code by changing Section
2 22-9.1.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
6 Section 22-9.1 as follows:
7 (10 ILCS 5/22-9.1) (from Ch. 46, par. 22-9.1)
8 Sec. 22-9.1. Within 5 days after the last day for
9 proclamation of the results of any canvass declaring persons
10 nominated, elected or declared eligible for a runoff election
11 for any office or declaring the adoption or rejection of a
12 question of public policy, the following persons may file a
13 petition for discovery:
14 (a) any candidate who, in the entire area in which votes
15 may be cast for the office for which he is a candidate,
16 received votes equal in number to at least 95% of the number
17 of votes cast for any successful candidate for the same
18 office; and
19 (b) any 5 electors of the same area within which votes
20 may be cast on a question of public policy, if the results of
21 the canvass are such that the losing side on the question
22 would have been the prevailing side had it received an
23 additional number of votes equal to 5% of the total number of
24 votes cast on the question.
25 A petition under this Section shall be filed with the
26 election authority for purposes of discovery only. The
27 petition shall ask that ballots, voting machines, or ballot
28 cards - as the case may be - shall be examined, that any
29 automatic tabulating equipment shall be tested, and that
30 ballots, recorded votes, or ballot cards - as the case may be
31 - shall be counted in specified precincts, not exceeding 25%
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1 of the total number of precincts within the jurisdiction of
2 the election authority. Where there are fewer than 4
3 precincts under the jurisdiction of the election authority
4 and within the area in which votes could be cast in the
5 election in connection with which the petition has been
6 filed, discovery shall be permitted in one of such precincts.
7 A petition filed under this Section shall be accompanied
8 by the payment of a fee of $25 $10.00 per precinct specified.
9 All such fees shall be paid by the election authority into
10 the county or city treasury, as the case may be.
11 Upon receipt of such petition the county canvassing board
12 or board of election commissioners shall reconvene. Where a
13 local canvassing board, as provided in Section 22-17, has
14 jurisdiction, the election authority shall notify the
15 chairman of such board who shall reconvene such board in the
16 office of the election authority or other location designated
17 by the election authority.
18 After 3 days notice in writing to the successful
19 candidate for the same office or, in the case of a question
20 of public policy, such notice as will reasonably inform
21 interested persons of the time and place of the discovery
22 proceedings, such board shall examine the ballots, voting
23 machines, ballot cards, voter affidavits and applications for
24 ballot, test the automatic tabulating equipment, and count
25 the ballots, recorded votes, and ballot cards in the
26 specified election districts or precincts. At the request
27 of any candidate entitled to participate in the discovery
28 proceedings, the election authority shall also make available
29 for examination the ballot applications and voter affidavits
30 for the specified precincts. Each candidate affected by such
31 examination shall have the right to attend the same in person
32 or by his representative. In the case of a question of
33 public policy, the board shall permit an equal number of
34 acknowledged proponents and acknowledged opponents to attend
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1 the examination.
2 On completion of the count of any ballots in each
3 district or precinct, the ballots shall be secured and sealed
4 in the same manner required of judges of election by Sections
5 7-54 and 17-20 of the Election Code. The handling of the
6 ballots in accord with this Section shall not of itself
7 affect the admissibility in evidence of the ballots in any
8 other proceedings, either legislative or judicial.
9 The results of the examination and count shall not be
10 certified, used to amend or change the abstracts of the votes
11 previously completed, used to deny the successful candidate
12 for the same office his certificate of nomination or
13 election, nor used to change the previously declared result
14 of the vote on a question of public policy. Such count shall
15 not be binding in an election contest brought about under the
16 provisions of the Election Code, shall not be a prerequisite
17 to bringing such an election contest, shall not prevent the
18 bringing of such an election contest, nor shall it affect the
19 results of the canvass previously proclaimed.
20 (Source: P.A. 84-966.)
21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22 becoming law.