On April 21, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, a Clinton appointee, orally described substantial relief she intends to order for minor party and independent candidates for the Illinois 2020 election. Candidates will need 10% of the original legal requirement. The petition deadline is extended from June 22 to August 7. Signatures can be obtained on a signer’s computer via an electronic signature, although the candidate or party must then print out the results and transport a piece of paper to election officials. The order is being drafted but does not yet exist on paper.
UPDATE: here is a new story in the Herald & Review, the daily newspaper for Decatur.
Also, if a minor party was on the ballot in either 2016 or 2018 for an office that is up in 2020, then it is automatically on the ballot for those same offices in 2020. This means that the Libertarian and Green Parties are now on the ballot in 2020 for President and U.S. Senate with no petition. Also the Green Party is now on the ballot automatically for two U.S. House seats, the fifth and twelfth districts. Unfortunately there were no third parties on the ballot in either 2016 or 2018 for any legislative seats.
The case is Libertarian Party of Illinois v Pritzker, n.d., 1:20cv-2112. Statewide candidates for president and U.S. Senate, other than Libertarians and Greens, will need 2,500 signatures.
The state had said that it could not live with a deadline as late as August 7, but the judge still said she intends to order it. The minor party petition in Illinois was due in early August in all the years 1931 through 1999. Before 1931, it was in September, and it was in October from 1891 through 1929.
The basis for the order is that Illinois law requires independent and minor party petitions to circulate between late March and late June, a period of time entirely within the health crisis period. If Illinois didn’t ban circulating petitions before late March, it would have been in a better legal position. Before 1985 Illinois minor party and independent candidate petitions could be circulated as early as desired. UPDATE: here is a one-page statement from the court saying some relief is being granted, the details of which will be described on paper shortly.
An outstanding incremental decision within the confines of precedent.
This is a massive victory for free and fair democratic elections! Also, the Green Party is now on the ballot for two more County Board districts, the 2nd and 3rd districts, since we were on the ballot in those districts in 2016 and/or 2018.
I meant to say Jackson County Board districts.
Another court acting as a legis body — SCOTUS infection of lower courts since 1789.
ONE voter forms –
nom/issue pets.
Guessing the state will probably appeal?
One voter forms don’t solve the issue of approaching voters, handing them the clipboard and getting it back from them if they are paranoid about that, or about going places to begin with. They just add to the cost of printing and the hassles of distributing, keeping track of, collecting and turning in the forms. I dealt with one signature per page initiative petitions in Florida and it was a hassle. I don’t think it would have solved covid 19 related concerns, at least not most of them.
E-sigs do have the potential to solve a lot more of that problem but I’m wondering what works in terms of convincing enough people to sign them. Also, there are some costs for the signers; a lot of people don’t have the kinds of devices where you can approximate a physical signature with your finger, stylus, mouse or whatever. There are also programs where people can “e-sign” where the computer draws the signature. However, I don’t know how those would be defended in a challenge. Comparing it to the voter’s signature on file would obviously not work. Since a lot of people don’t answer phone or email, contacting them to verify may not work.
“An outstanding incremental decision within the confines of precedent.”
Agreed…if it holds up.
I congratulate the court for preserving democracy during this unprecedented health crisis!
ONE VOTER PAPER FORMS — IN NEWSPAPERS, JUNK SNAIL MAIL, ONLINE, ETC. — EVEN BAN ADS ???
I highly doubt the state government will appeal this. They have a pandemic to worry about as it is, without being dragged through the court of public opinion for fighting to use said pandemic to keep third parties off the ballot. The Pritzker Administration, while not perfect, doesn’t strike me as being that petty or stupid.
Junk snail mail wouldn’t do very well. Recently a candidate mailed his forms with pre-paid return envelopes at a cost of $1.75 per letter and the number he got back made it $115 per signature. I think that’s assuming they were all valid. And that wouldn’t work in Illinois, where someone other than the signer has to sign off in front of a notary, who can’t be either of the two or a candidate on the form (and neither can the notary). If ads in newspapers or online worked to get people to sign petitions, the petition business would not exist. Unfortunately people are just not that engaged.
Hopefully Joshua is correct.
Why not have a seven political party system?
I’ll wait until all parties agree to it. But if this is the case, congratulations. We can use this to help push for further reforms, especially in case we ever suffer another pandemic much like this one. ILGP, I look forward to meeting your political/legislative director soon so we can push for said reforms. (e.g. the reforms currently presented in House Bills 3535 and 3828)
Dee, why exactly seven? Would six be too few or eight too many?
Does the ruling have any impact on the start date, since that already passed? I know it’s normally a 90 day window.
I’m thinking it will hold up.
My guess on why seven political parties is this:
Center-left (Democratic)
Center-right (Republican)
Libertarian (Libertarian)
Left (Green)
Right (Constitution)
Far left (Socialism and Liberation)
Far right (Prohibition, maybe? American Freedom?)
So, if some other Presidential candidate manages to collect the required signatures, will challengers still easily throw them off the ballot?
I doubt there would be any challenges. Parties in the challenge states are most likely to be challenged if they are the only third party or independent candidate on the ballot for an important office, or if there are just two.
Gordon,
OK. So that’s 7. How about center-center? Center-authoritarian? Authoritarian? Left-libertarian? Right-libertarian? Center-libertarian? Etc, etc. And it’s not like it can be that neat anyway. If a dozen groups want to say they are the real socialist party and the rest are imperialist lackeys and reprehensible traitors to the working class, who do we want deciding who the “real” socialist party is…the government?
Hello Richard, Its been a while we communicated. I am the Illinois Native Son atypical-apartisan Independent candidate for US Senator and have prepared to file a motion to intervene so that I become a party to the lawsuit.
As you can read, I have quoted the SCOTUS decision {Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983).
In 2018 Illinois election I was a 11th CD candidate. Best to you and Yours, Connor VlaKancic
2020-April-14
TO: Steve Sandvoss, Executive Director,
Illinois State Board of Elections
2329 S. MacArthur Blvd., Springfield IL, 62704
In ILLinois, as in United States, as in the entire inhabited world, human population is strictly inhibited from
normal human societal interface by an endemic viral infection pathogen. However this pathogen pandemic
may OR may not be surmounted by international medical science in the near term of many months. Some
news media distributed medical opinion includes the prognostication that a perfected viral antigen may
require a time-line of an entire year, or more.
Consequently, during 2020 Presidential election year, in ILLinois, the people are gravely disjointed from
petitioning their government. Campaign volunteers and voters are critically segregated by ILLinois wide
Gubernatorial mandated exclusion from such social contact as required to collect voter signatures to
achieve independent candidates inclusion on ILLinois’ November General election ballot.
Consequently, ILLinois election regulations prohibit voters from redressing their government. This reality
ipso facto appears to violate the US Constitution 1st Amendment by placing too high of a burden to petition
the [US] government. Redolent of SCOTUS { Anderson v. Celebrezze , 460 U.S. 780 (1983)*
Therein, it must be incumbent upon ILLinois State Board of Elections, Executive Director, to achieve voter
electorate access and participatory concordance regarding a candidate’s nomination procedure without the
societal compromised means or necessity for face-to-face interlace with the general populace of voter
electorate.
As America is even yet, mentally cognizant of World War II’s impact on our collective persona, expectedly,
the general society mindset will certainly remain vividly conscious of extended social-distance paralysis in
the current generation of populace all the days of their lives. George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures
(GFP) calls it: The Beginning of Social Dysfunction**.
President Lincoln has been said to reflect on people lamenting that “rose bushes have thorns”. We can
complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. On an individual
personal scale of loved-one’s now untimely gone from us by this pathogen, there is little solace to the grief,
Yet on a societal plane of allegory perspective, let us strive to leverage this flagellation of human societal
graces to reevaluate the opportunity and means, and yes encouragement, for citizen engagement with our
elected representatives and associated appointed administrators.
“Let us endeavor so to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry”. Mark Twain
Therefore, NOW it is of heightened emphatic postulation for the ILLinois State Board of Elections to
define the most pragmatic intuitive reformation of regulations to stimulate voter electorate means to learned
acquaintance with all manner of innovative pragmatic election campaigns such that voters can insightful
elevate worthy candidates to official ballot position irrespective of ingrained politics-as-usual postulation.
Specifically, reform to eliminate, the current candidate petition process requiring hundreds of thousands of
petition signatures papers [need it be said… laden with pathogens] , hastily scribbled on by voters only
marginally aware [too often] of the candidate’s identity and platform.
There are Internet online alternative means for determined voters to cast their vote, even if it be
(specifically if it be) to emphasize their angst and grievance with politics. Consider a ballot that includes
“None of the Above” as a valid enumerated vote. The immovable object meets the irresistible force!
Implacable antiquated election regulations are being assailed by competent informed voter electorate’s new
elective knowledge and tools such as Fail-Safe ballot with individual voter verification.
ILLinois Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) online access is seemingly a ready-to-go secure voter access
platform. ILLinois Department of Employment Security account online access is another.
Alternatively, (perhaps either/or voter selected means) online banking “Digital Wallet” security platforms
can enable encrypted secure voter authentication. Military-grade secure encrypted voter authentication
could potentially start with a voter’s secure access to their select choice of online bank accounts. This is
awesome secure for access to checking, credit card, and mortgage accounts. Within this bank portal is the
bank customer’s “you are who you are” authentication. The bank’s link-to-vote provides a “RealID”.
Then increase the security of the voter information by adding an additional step after linking from their
bank account secure validation. Voter Authentication “you are who you are”(URUR), could include a
second form of verification before each time voting. RealID can add protection to insure all voters records
remain secure, even if a phantom voter tries to imitate – well – even you!
Respectfully submitted,
Connor VlaKancic, atypical apartisan Independent U.S. Senator candidate
300 W. Hickory Street
Fairbury, IL 61739
electconnor@retireDurbin.us
WDC: 202-558-7077
Born in Aurora and raised on his Grandparents dairy farm, North of Hinckley, DeKalb County, next door to Lee
County, in Dixon, childhood home of Ronald Reagan, as was John Nicolay & John Hay, Lincoln’s Boys***,
“I am a Lincoln Man, all through” (Connor VlaKancic)
* https://en.wikipedia.or g/wiki/Anderson_v._Celebrezz e (April 19, 1983)
** https://www.geopoliticalfutures.com/the-beginning-of-social-dysfunction (April 13, 2020)
*** https://www.smithsonianmag.com/store/books/lincolns-boys-john-hay-john-nicolay-and-war-lincol/ ©2014
Multiple parties in regimes having PR –
Israel, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, etc.
FATAL part of such regimes — the Parl rot —
same hacks having legis and exec powers.
—-
PR
APPV
TOTSOP
Oral relief is great. Hopefully she’ll go all the way with this.
I do not think the Libertarians and Greens are automatically on the ballot without collecting signatures.
The article says, “Those conditions to be finalized differ from what the Libertarian and Green parties initially sought and what attorneys for Pritzker and the State Board of Elections offered. The parties asked Illinois’ signature collection mandates be waived or suspended this general election cycle so their candidates could appear on the November ballot. In a remote court hearing Friday, Pallmeyer said that “is beyond the power of the court.” Am I missing something?
@Ryan Dubicki
The official order that came from Judge Pallmeyer states otherwise.
The U.S. Senate nominee and eventual nominees for POTUS for both parties are automatically on the ballot without collecting a single petition signature.
It is for U.S. House and all races below that point will only have to collect signatures. Those thresholds were reduced by 90%.
Additionally, there will be some form of digital petitioning, although we do not officially know what that entails. And the filing deadline has been moved to early August.
Between an article and the text of a judge’s order I will believe the latter.