Mike Depoister was elected to the Effingham County, Illinois County Board as a Republican in 2012. Late last year, he said he would run for re-election as an independent. He submitted a petition, but on July 12 he was removed from the November ballot on the grounds that he had voted in the March 2016 Republican primary.
Illinois has had a law since 2012 which does not allow anyone to be an independent candidate if he or she voted in a party primary earlier that same year. DePoister recently filed a lawsuit in state court, arguing that the new law violates the U.S. Constitution. He also argues that the objection to his petition is flawed. The case is DePoister v Effingham County Electoral Board, 16-MR-69, in Effingham County Circuit Court.
Illinois courts have already decided there is a party affiliation lock in period, even if they disagree about exactly how long; and they said that it’s permissable because the state has a compelling interest in preventing party raiding. Of course, if the state were truly interested in preventing raiding, it wouldn’t force parties to accept, as their candidates, those with which the parties don’t wish to affiliate; it wouldn’t force the parties to allow all comers to participate in their candidate selection process; and it would provide a mechanism for the parties themselves to object to the nomination of candidates, rather than only residents of the political subdivision in question, where a small party may have no representation.