103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB1456

 

Introduced 2/7/2023, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Presidential Primary Ranked Choice Voting Act. Provides that any State-administered primary election for the President of the United States shall be conducted using ranked choice voting. Sets forth provisions concerning form of ballot, tabulation, inactive ballots and undervotes, and ties for ranked choice voting. Provides that at least 150 days before the date of the presidential primary election, the State committee of each political party that intends to use the State-administered presidential primary in its nomination process shall inform the State Board of Elections in writing of its intention. Provides that the State committee's written notice shall indicate whether the party prefers tabulation to occur on a winner-take-all basis or on a proportional basis. Provides that if a party's notice fails to specify how to tabulate ballots, the State-administered presidential primary election for that party shall be tabulated on a statewide winner-take-all basis. Provides that the State Board of Elections shall adopt rules or guidance to facilitate the release of unofficial preliminary round-by-round results and unofficial preliminary cast vote records as soon as feasible after the polls close and at regular intervals thereafter until the counting of ballots is complete. Sets forth information that the State Board of Elections shall make public. Provides that the State Board of Elections shall have the authority to adopt any rules necessary to implement the provisions. Defines terms.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Presidential Primary Ranked Choice Voting Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions.
7    As used in this Act:
8    "Active candidate" means any candidate who has not been
9eliminated during tabulation or is not a withdrawn candidate.
10    "Highest-ranked active candidate" means the active
11candidate assigned to a higher ranking than any other active
12candidates on a ballot.
13    "Inactive ballot" means a ballot that does not count for
14any candidate for any of the reasons set forth in subsection
15(a) of Section 25.
16    "Overvote" means an instance in which a voter has ranked
17more than one candidate at the same ranking order.
18    "Ranking order" means the number available to be assigned
19by a voter to a candidate to express the voter's choice for
20that candidate; the number "1" is the highest ranking order,
21followed by "2", and then "3" and so on in ascending numerical
22order.
23    "Round" means an instance of the sequence of voting

 

 

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1tabulation conducted in accordance with subsection (b) of
2Section 20 for winner-take-all selection of delegates or
3subsection (c) of Section 20 for proportional selection of
4delegates.
5    "Skipped ranking" means a voter has left a ranking order
6unassigned but ranks a candidate at a subsequent ranking
7order.
8    "Threshold for receiving delegates" means the amount of
9votes necessary for a candidate to receive delegates in
10primary elections conducted in accordance with subsection (c)
11of Section 20.
12    "Undervote" means a ballot that does not contain any
13candidates at any ranking in a particular contest.
14    "Withdrawn candidate" means any candidate who:
15        (1) has filed a signed letter of withdrawal with the
16    national and State party chairs in compliance with any
17    applicable party rules that may exist governing the
18    timing, procedures, or substance of candidate withdrawals
19    or suspensions; and
20        (2) has filed a signed letter of withdrawal before
21    election day with the State election official designated
22    to receive the letter.
 
23    Section 10. Ranked choice voting for presidential primary
24elections. Any State-administered primary election for the
25President of the United States shall be conducted using ranked

 

 

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1choice voting as set forth in this Act.
 
2    Section 15. Ranked choice voting; form of ballot.
3    (a) Any ballot used to conduct ranked choice voting shall
4allow voters to rank candidates in order of choice.
5    (b) Any ballot used to conduct ranked choice voting shall
6allow voters to rank up to 5 qualified candidates. If voting
7equipment cannot accommodate 5 rankings, the State Board of
8Elections may limit the number of choices a voter may rank on
9the ballot to the maximum number allowed by the equipment,
10however, the number of rankings allowed shall be no fewer than
113 and shall be uniform across the State.
12    (c) Nothing in subsection (b) shall be construed to allow
13a voter to vote for candidates of any party in a primary in
14which the voter is not eligible to vote.
 
15    Section 20. Ranked choice voting; tabulation.
16    (a) In any State-administered primary election for
17President of the United States conducted using ranked choice
18voting, each ballot shall count as one vote for the
19highest-ranked active candidate on that ballot. Ranking orders
20containing withdrawn candidates shall be treated the same as
21ranking orders containing candidates who have been eliminated
22from tabulation. Otherwise, each round proceeds sequentially
23as described in subsection (b) or (c), as applicable.
24    (b) If a party awards delegates to a single candidate on a

 

 

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1winner-take-all basis, tabulation shall proceed as follows:
2        (1) If 2 or fewer active candidates remain, then
3    tabulation is complete; otherwise, tabulation proceeds
4    pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection.
5        (2) If tabulation is not complete, then the active
6    candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, votes for
7    the eliminated candidate are transferred to each ballot's
8    next-ranked active candidate, and a new round begins
9    pursuant to paragraph (1).
10    (c) If a party awards delegates to multiple candidates on
11a proportional basis, tabulation shall proceed as follows:
12        (1) If the vote total of every active candidate is
13    above the party's threshold for receiving delegates, then
14    tabulation is complete; otherwise, tabulation proceeds
15    pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection.
16        (2) If tabulation is not complete, then the active
17    candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, votes for
18    the eliminated candidate are transferred to each ballot's
19    next-ranked active candidate, and a new round begins
20    pursuant to paragraph (1).
21    (d) When the State Board of Elections certifies the
22results of the election, the official shall certify the
23results of each round tabulated pursuant to subsection (b) or
24(c) and any other information required under Section 40 to the
25State chairperson and the national committee of each political
26party that had at least one candidate on the

 

 

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1State-administered presidential primary election ballot to
2allocate national delegate votes in accordance with the
3party's State and national rules.
4    (e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preclude a
5political party from allocating delegates according to its own
6rules for allocating such delegates.
 
7    Section 25. Ranked choice voting; inactive ballots and
8undervotes.
9    (a) An inactive ballot does not count for any candidate. A
10ballot is inactive if any of the following is true:
11        (1) The ballot does not contain any active candidates
12    and is not an undervote.
13        (2) The ballot has reached an overvote.
14        (3) The ballot has reached 2 consecutive skipped
15    rankings.
16    (b) An undervote does not count as an active or inactive
17ballot in any round of tabulation.
 
18    Section 30. Ranked choice voting; ties. If 2 or more
19candidates are tied with the fewest votes and tabulation
20cannot continue until the candidate with the fewest votes is
21eliminated, then the candidate to be eliminated shall be
22determined by lot. Election officials may resolve prospective
23ties between candidates before tabulation after all votes are
24cast. The result of any tie resolution must be recorded and

 

 

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1reused in the event of a recount.
 
2    Section 35. Political party notice regarding participation
3in primary, type of primary, and threshold for receiving
4delegates.
5    (a) At least 150 days before the date of the presidential
6primary election, the State committee of each political party
7that intends to use the State-administered presidential
8primary in its nomination process shall inform the State Board
9of Elections in writing of its intention. The State
10committee's written notice shall indicate whether the party
11prefers tabulation to occur on a winner-take-all basis in
12accordance with subsection (b) of Section 20 or on a
13proportional basis in accordance with subsection (c) of
14Section 20. If the party requests that tabulation occur on a
15proportional basis, the party shall indicate what the
16applicable threshold for receiving delegates will be. If a
17party allocates any delegates by congressional district or
18other geographical unit, then the party shall indicate the
19geographical basis for its allocation. If a party's notice
20fails to specify how to tabulate ballots, the
21State-administered presidential primary election for that
22party shall be tabulated on a statewide winner-take-all basis
23in accordance with subsection (b) of Section 20.
24    (b) At least 120 days before the date of the presidential
25primary election, the State Board of Elections shall confirm

 

 

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1with the State committee of each political party that the
2State is capable of implementing the party's preferences as
3declared under subsection (a) or shall notify the State
4committee of any feasibility constraints that could prevent
5the State from implementing the party's preferences.
 
6    Section 40. Results reporting.
7    (a) The State Board of Elections shall adopt rules or
8guidance to facilitate the release of unofficial preliminary
9round-by-round results and unofficial preliminary cast vote
10records as soon as feasible after the polls close and at
11regular intervals thereafter until the counting of ballots is
12complete.
13        (1) Unofficial preliminary round-by-round results
14    shall be clearly labeled as preliminary and, to the extent
15    feasible, shall include the percentage of ballots counted
16    to date.
17        (2) Unofficial preliminary cast vote records shall be:
18            (A) clearly labeled as preliminary and, to the
19        extent feasible, shall include the percentage of
20        ballots counted to date;
21            (B) published online in a publicly accessible,
22        electronic format; and
23            (C) published in a manner consistent with the need
24        to maintain voter privacy.
25        (3) In adopting rules or guidance under this

 

 

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1    subsection, the State Board of Elections shall consult
2    with and allow for input from county clerks, local
3    election officials, and national and State party
4    representatives.
5    (b) In addition to any other information required by law
6to be reported with final results, the State Board of
7Elections shall make public:
8        (1) the total number of votes each candidate received
9    in each round of the official tabulation, including votes
10    for withdrawn candidates;
11        (2) the total number of ballots that became inactive
12    in each round because they did not contain any active
13    candidates, reached an overvote, or reached 2 consecutive
14    skipped rankings, reported as separate figures; and
15        (3) the cast vote records in a publicly accessible,
16    electronic format and by precinct, published in a manner
17    consistent with the need to maintain voter privacy.
18    (c) If a party allocates delegates by congressional
19district or other geographical unit, the State Board of
20Elections shall provide round-by-round results by
21congressional district or other geographical unit in addition
22to providing statewide results.
 
23    Section 45. Rulemaking. The State Board of Elections shall
24have the authority to adopt any rules necessary to implement
25this Act.
 

 

 

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1    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
2severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.