The excellent ballot access bill that had been introduced in the Illinois House in January has now been introduced in the Senate as well. The bills are SB 733 and HB 158. The Senate sponsor is a Democrat, Michael Frerich; the House bill sponsor is a Republican, William Black.

Both bills set the number of signatures for minor party and independent candidates (for district office) to equal the number of signatures needed by a member of a qualified party who is seeking a place on the primary ballot. Since the primary requirement varies somewhat depending on which party is involved, the bill matches the number required for the biggest major party.

If the bills were to pass, the number of signatures needed in the typical US House district for minor parties and independents would drop from 13,000 to slightly less than 1,000. Since Illinois has the 2nd hardest requirements for minor party candidates for US House in the nation (after Georgia), this bill would make a huge improvement.