Two petitioning candidates for the U.S. House in Illinois will probably file a federal lawsuit soon. It will allege that because Illinois only requires 5,000 signatures (exactly) in years after redistricting, therefore there is no state interest in requiring between 9,000 and 15,000 in all other election years.
Illinois is the only state that has ever had a fixed petition requirement for petitioning candidates for U.S. House in certain years (years such as 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012), and a much higher requirement in all other election years (5% of the last vote cast). Therefore, there are no precedents on-point.
Libertarian nominee Dan Druck collected 7,153 signatures this year, and independent Allan Stevo collected approximately 7,100. Both were challenged on the last day for challenges. The law required Druck to collect 9,858 valid signatures, and Stevo needed 10,111. The requirements are considerably higher in mid-term years.
It appears that no one challenged any of the presidential candidates who filed in Illinois (Baldwin, Nader, an LP stand-in for Barr, and a “New Party” candidate who apparently filed a petition with one signature). See http://www.elections.state.il.us.
I wanted to challenge Thompson and Huckabee because I knew that they hadn’t met the signature requirements, and was told by a party official that it is a “professional courtesy” not to challenge the requirements on the presidential level in Illinois.
If I could have done it without being affiliated with my candidate of choice, I would have.