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92_HB1804eng HB1804 Engrossed LRB9206310MWpc 1 AN ACT concerning elections. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing 5 Sections 10-9 and 10-10 as follows: 6 (10 ILCS 5/10-9) (from Ch. 46, par. 10-9) 7 Sec. 10-9. The following electoral boards are designated 8 for the purpose of hearing and passing upon the objector's 9 petition described in Section 10-8. 10 1. The State Board of Elections will hear and pass upon 11 objections to the nominations of candidates for State 12 offices, nominations of candidates for congressional, 13 legislative and judicial offices of districts or circuits 14 situated in more than one county, nominations of candidates 15 for the offices of State's attorney or regional 16 superintendent of schools to be elected from more than one 17 county, and petitions for proposed amendments to the 18 Constitution of the State of Illinois as provided for in 19 Section 3 of Article XIV of the Constitution. 20 2. The county officers electoral board to hear and pass 21 upon objections to the nominations of candidates for county, 22 municipal, and township offices, for congressional, 23 legislative and judicial offices of a district or circuit 24 coterminous with or less than a county, for school and 25 community college district officestrustees to be voted for26by the electors of the county or by the electors of a27township of the county, for the office of multi-township 28 assessor where candidates for such office are nominated in 29 accordance with this Code, and for all special district 30 offices, shall be composed of the county clerk, or an 31 assistant designated by the county clerk, the State's HB1804 Engrossed -2- LRB9206310MWpc 1 attorney of the county or an Assistant State's Attorney 2 designated by the State's Attorney, and the clerk of the 3 circuit court, or an assistant designated by the clerk of the 4 circuit court, of the county, of whom the county clerk or his 5 designee shall be the chairman, except that in any county 6 which has established a county board of election 7 commissioners that board shall constitute the county officers 8 electoral board ex-officio. If a municipality, school 9 district, or community college district is located in 2 or 10 more counties, the county officers electoral board of the 11 county in which the principal offices of the municipality, 12 school district, or community college district is located 13 shall hear and pass upon objections to nominations of 14 candidates for the municipal offices, school district 15 offices, or community college district offices. 16 3. (Blank).The municipal officers electoral board to17hear and pass upon objections to the nominations of18candidates for officers of municipalities shall be composed19of the mayor or president of the board of trustees of the20city, village or incorporated town, and the city, village or21incorporated town clerk, and one member of the city council22or board of trustees, that member being designated who is23eligible to serve on the electoral board and has served the24greatest number of years as a member of the city council or25board of trustees, of whom the mayor or president of the26board of trustees shall be the chairman.27 4. (Blank).The township officers electoral board to28pass upon objections to the nominations of township officers29shall be composed of the township supervisor, the town clerk,30and that eligible town trustee elected in the township who31has had the longest term of continuous service as town32trustee, of whom the township supervisor shall be the33chairman.34 5. (Blank).The education officers electoral board toHB1804 Engrossed -3- LRB9206310MWpc 1hear and pass upon objections to the nominations of2candidates for offices in school or community college3districts shall be composed of the presiding officer of the4school or community college district board, who shall be the5chairman, the secretary of the school or community college6district board and the eligible elected school or community7college board member who has the longest term of continuous8service as a board member.9 6. In all cases, however, where the Congressional or 10 Legislative district is wholly within the jurisdiction of a 11 board of election commissioners and in all cases where the 12 school district or special district is wholly within the 13 jurisdiction of a municipal board of election commissioners 14 and in all cases where the municipality or township is wholly 15 or partially within the jurisdiction of a municipal board of 16 election commissioners, the board of election commissioners 17 shall ex-officio constitute the electoral board. 18 For special districts situated in more than one county, 19 the county officers electoral board of the county in which 20 the principal office of the district is located has 21 jurisdiction to hear and pass upon objections. For purposes 22 of this Section, "special districts" means all political 23 subdivisionsother than counties, municipalities, townships24and school and community college districts. 25 In the event that any member of the county officers 26 electoralappropriateboard is a candidate for the office 27 with relation to which the objector's petition is filed, he 28 or she shall not be eligible to serve on that board and shall 29 not act as a member of the board and his or her place shall 30 be filled by the county treasurer, and if he or she is 31 ineligible to serve, by the sheriff of the county.as32follows:33a. In the county officers electoral board by the34county treasurer, and if he or she is ineligible toHB1804 Engrossed -4- LRB9206310MWpc 1serve, by the sheriff of the county.2b. In the municipal officers electoral board by the3eligible elected city council or board of trustees member4who has served the second greatest number of years as a5city council or board of trustees member.6c. In the township officers electoral board by the7eligible elected town trustee who has had the second8longest term of continuous service as a town trustee.9d. In the education officers electoral board by the10eligible elected school or community college district11board member who has had the second longest term of12continuous service as a board member.13 In the event that the chairman of the electoral board is 14 ineligible to act because of the fact that he is a candidate 15 for the office with relation to which the objector's petition 16 is filed, then the substitute chosen under the provisions of 17 this Section shall be the chairman; In this case, the officer 18 or board with whom the objector's petition is filed, shall 19 transmit the certificate of nomination or nomination papers 20 as the case may be, and the objector's petition to the 21 substitute chairman of the electoral board. 22When 2 or more eligible individuals, by reason of their23terms of service on a city council or board of trustees,24township board of trustees, or school or community college25district board, qualify to serve on an electoral board, the26one to serve shall be chosen by lot.27 Any vacancies on the county officersanelectoral board 28 not otherwise filled pursuant to this Section shall be filled 29 by public members appointed by the Chief Judge of the Circuit 30 Court for the county wherein the electoral board hearing is 31 being held upon notification to the Chief Judge of such 32 vacancies. The Chief Judge shall be so notified by a member 33 of the electoral board or the officer or board with whom the 34 objector's petition was filed. In the event that none of the HB1804 Engrossed -5- LRB9206310MWpc 1 individuals designated by this Section to serve on the 2 electoral board are eligible, the chairman of an electoral 3 board shall be designated by the Chief Judge. 4 (Source: P.A. 87-570.) 5 (10 ILCS 5/10-10) (from Ch. 46, par. 10-10) 6 Sec. 10-10. Within 24 hours after the receipt of the 7 certificate of nomination or nomination papers or proposed 8 question of public policy, as the case may be, and the 9 objector's petition, the chairman of the electoral board 10 other than the State Board of Elections shall send a call by 11 registered or certified mail to each of the members of the 12 electoral board, and to the objector who filed the objector's 13 petition, and either to the candidate whose certificate of 14 nomination or nomination papers are objected to or to the 15 principal proponent or attorney for proponents of a question 16 of public policy, as the case may be, whose petitions are 17 objected to, and shall also cause the sheriff of the county 18 or counties in which such officers and persons reside to 19 serve a copy of such call upon each of such officers and 20 persons, which call shall set out the fact that the electoral 21 board is required to meet to hear and pass upon the 22 objections to nominations made for the office, designating 23 it, and shall state the day, hour and place at which the 24 electoral board shall meet for the purpose, which place shall 25 be in the county court house in the county in the case of the 26 County Officers Electoral Board, the Municipal Officers27Electoral Board, the Township Officers Electoral Board or the28Education Officers Electoral Board.The Township Officers29Electoral Board may meet in the township offices, if they are30available, rather than the county courthouse.In those cases 31 where the State Board of Elections is the electoral board 32 designated under Section 10-9, the chairman of the State 33 Board of Elections shall, within 24 hours after the receipt HB1804 Engrossed -6- LRB9206310MWpc 1 of the certificate of nomination or nomination papers or 2 petitions for a proposed amendment to Article IV of the 3 Constitution or proposed statewide question of public policy, 4 send a call by registered or certified mail to the objector 5 who files the objector's petition, and either to the 6 candidate whose certificate of nomination or nomination 7 papers are objected to or to the principal proponent or 8 attorney for proponents of the proposed Constitutional 9 amendment or statewide question of public policy and shall 10 state the day, hour and place at which the electoral board 11 shall meet for the purpose, which place may be in the Capitol 12 Building or in the principal or permanent branch office of 13 the State Board. The day of the meeting shall not be less 14 than 3 nor more than 5 days after the receipt of the 15 certificate of nomination or nomination papers and the 16 objector's petition by the chairman of the electoral board. 17 The electoral board shall have the power to administer 18 oaths and to subpoena and examine witnesses and at the 19 request of either party the chairman may issue subpoenas 20 requiring the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces 21 tecum requiring the production of such books, papers, records 22 and documents as may be evidence of any matter under inquiry 23 before the electoral board, in the same manner as witnesses 24 are subpoenaed in the Circuit Court. 25 Service of such subpoenas shall be made by any sheriff or 26 other person in the same manner as in cases in such court and 27 the fees of such sheriff shall be the same as is provided by 28 law, and shall be paid by the objector or candidate who 29 causes the issuance of the subpoena. In case any person so 30 served shall knowingly neglect or refuse to obey any such 31 subpoena, or to testify, the electoral board shall at once 32 file a petition in the circuit court of the county in which 33 such hearing is to be heard, or has been attempted to be 34 heard, setting forth the facts, of such knowing refusal or HB1804 Engrossed -7- LRB9206310MWpc 1 neglect, and accompanying the petition with a copy of the 2 citation and the answer, if one has been filed, together with 3 a copy of the subpoena and the return of service thereon, and 4 shall apply for an order of court requiring such person to 5 attend and testify, and forthwith produce books and papers, 6 before the electoral board. Any circuit court of the state, 7 excluding the judge who is sitting on the electoral board, 8 upon such showing shall order such person to appear and 9 testify, and to forthwith produce such books and papers, 10 before the electoral board at a place to be fixed by the 11 court. If such person shall knowingly fail or refuse to obey 12 such order of the court without lawful excuse, the court 13 shall punish him or her by fine and imprisonment, as the 14 nature of the case may require and may be lawful in cases of 15 contempt of court. 16 The electoral board on the first day of its meeting shall 17 adopt rules of procedure for the introduction of evidence and 18 the presentation of arguments and may, in its discretion, 19 provide for the filing of briefs by the parties to the 20 objection or by other interested persons. 21 In the event of a State Electoral Board hearing on 22 objections to a petition for an amendment to Article IV of 23 the Constitution pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIV of the 24 Constitution, or to a petition for a question of public 25 policy to be submitted to the voters of the entire State, the 26 certificates of the county clerks and boards of election 27 commissioners showing the results of the random sample of 28 signatures on the petition shall be prima facie valid and 29 accurate, and shall be presumed to establish the number of 30 valid and invalid signatures on the petition sheets reviewed 31 in the random sample, as prescribed in Section 28-11 and 32 28-12 of this Code. Either party, however, may introduce 33 evidence at such hearing to dispute the findings as to 34 particular signatures. In addition to the foregoing, in the HB1804 Engrossed -8- LRB9206310MWpc 1 absence of competent evidence presented at such hearing by a 2 party substantially challenging the results of a random 3 sample, or showing a different result obtained by an 4 additional sample, this certificate of a county clerk or 5 board of election commissioners shall be presumed to 6 establish the ratio of valid to invalid signatures within the 7 particular election jurisdiction. 8 The electoral board shall take up the question as to 9 whether or not the certificate of nomination or nomination 10 papers or petitions are in proper form, and whether or not 11 they were filed within the time and under the conditions 12 required by law, and whether or not they are the genuine 13 certificate of nomination or nomination papers or petitions 14 which they purport to be, and whether or not in the case of 15 the certificate of nomination in question it represents 16 accurately the decision of the caucus or convention issuing 17 it, and in general shall decide whether or not the 18 certificate of nomination or nominating papers or petitions 19 on file are valid or whether the objections thereto should be 20 sustained and the decision of a majority of the electoral 21 board shall be final subject to judicial review as provided 22 in Section 10-10.1. The electoral board must state its 23 findings in writing and must state in writing which 24 objections, if any, it has sustained. 25 Upon the expiration of the period within which a 26 proceeding for judicial review must be commenced under 27 Section 10--10.1, the electoral board shall, unless a 28 proceeding for judicial review has been commenced within such 29 period, transmit, by registered or certified mail, a 30 certified copy of its ruling, together with the original 31 certificate of nomination or nomination papers or petitions 32 and the original objector's petition, to the officer or board 33 with whom the certificate of nomination or nomination papers 34 or petitions, as objected to, were on file, and such officer HB1804 Engrossed -9- LRB9206310MWpc 1 or board shall abide by and comply with the ruling so made to 2 all intents and purposes. 3 (Source: P.A. 91-285, eff. 1-1-00.)