Downstate judge blocks law banning newly slated candidates from ballot
A Sangamon County judge on Wednesday blocked the Illinois State Board of Elections from enforcing a new law that would have prevented certain General Assembly candidates who didn’t run in the March primary from getting on the November ballot.
The move doesn’t void the bill in its entirety, but rather blocks it for this year’s general election for the 14 named plaintiffs in the case.
Democrats who control the legislature quickly moved the measure from introduction to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk last month, claiming banning the practice of post-primary “slating” — long used by both parties — was in service of empowering voters. It applies in races where no candidate ran for a seat in the party’s primary.
Read more: Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions
But Republicans cried foul, alleging the majority party passed the law to protect its incumbents from GOP challengers. Four such candidates sued last month — including Daniel Behr of Northbrook — with 10 others joining them last week. After Judge Gail Noll’s order Wednesday, they will appear on the November ballot, if they survive the normal process of challenges to their nominating petitions.
“The General Assembly could make the revisions effective for the next election, rather than in the midst of the current election,” Noll wrote in her 12-page order. “Changing the rules relating to ballot access in the midst of an election cycle removes certainty from the election process and is not necessary to achieve the legislation's proffered goal.”
Noll echoed the plaintiffs’ arguments from a Monday hearing, in which their attorney stressed that they weren’t taking a position over the constitutionality of the law eliminating the slating process for candidates to the General Assembly.
Rather, Noll said, she sided with the candidates’ contention that the law’s application during the current election cycle violated their constitutional rights because it “impermissibly burdens their right to vote and to have their names placed on the November ballot.”
The plaintiffs were represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian outfit behind lawsuits intervening in state law and politics — including one that ultimately resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down “fair share” union dues in 2018. In a statement Wednesday, LJC attorney Jeffrey Schwab applauded Noll’s ruling.
“The General Assembly can change the rules for elections, but they can’t do it in the middle of the game to keep challengers off the ballot,” he said. “We are proud to stand up for these candidates and against yet another scheme to suppress competition in Illinois elections.”
Neither the attorney general’s office nor attorneys for House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who intervened in the lawsuit in favor of the law, immediately responded to a request for comment as to whether they would appeal the ruling.
Monday’s hearing coincided with the June 3 deadline for slated candidates to submit the requisite signatures to get on the ballot — 75 days after the March 19 primary as prescribed by state law. As of 5 p.m. on Monday, 16 candidates, all Republicans, filed to run in the November election via the slating process.
Objections to those petitions are due at the close of business on Monday, June 10. As of Wednesday afternoon, however, no objections had been filed.
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