1. Fundamentals of Municipal Election Law and Vacancies
IML Municipal Attorneys Seminar
Double Tree Hotel
Bloomington, Illinois
Friday, April 11, 2014
12:45 pm – 1:30 pm
Keri-Lyn J. Krafthefer, Ancel Glink

2. Introduction
During an election season, municipal attorneys may be called upon to perform the following functions:
Advise the municipal clerk as local election official regarding election filings, referenda, simultaneous-filing lotteries, objections, certification of ballot and related issues;
Advise clients who are candidates about qualifications for office, nomination papers and filing requirements;
Advise any electoral board that may need to convene, review and evaluate any objections that are filed, represent an electoral board in litigation

3. Introduction, continued
Address various questions related to campaign finance disclosure, political action committees, qualifications for office (for example, residency, indebtedness and convicted felons);
Address municipal law questions that arise around election time (establishment of compensation of newly-elected officials; provide advice about the time of taking office, the regulation of political signs, incompatibility of offices, campaign free zones, electioneering, etc.); and

4. What’s where in the Election Code, 10 ILCS 5/1, et seq.
Article 7: Governs nominations by established political parties and petition filings for the primary election.
Article 10: Governs nominations by new political parties and independent and non-partisan candidates. This section also governs filing of certificates of nominations for the caucus method of nomination.
Article 28: Referenda
Article 8: Governs nominations to the General Assembly. Note: Courts construe provisions of Articles 7, 8, 10 and 28 interchangeably.

5. Election Code, continued
Article 9: Addresses campaign finance
Article 17: 10 ILCS 5/17-29 addresses polling places, electioneering, campaign free zones, signs.
Article 19: 10 ILCS 5/19A-70 addresses early voting regulations.

6. What’s where in the Municipal Code and other places related to Election Issues
Qualifications for elective office: See 65 1LCS 5/ , attached. This section’s subparagraphs address residency, indebtedness, convicted felons, etc.
Commencement of terms of office: See 65 ILCS 5/ , attached. Terms commence at the first regular or special meeting of the corporate authorities after receipt of the official election results from the county clerk, unless governed by ordinance, in which case the ordinance may not fix the inauguration later than the first regular or special meeting in June.
Oaths of office and bonds: Oaths are required by 65 ILCS , attached. Bond are addressed in 65 ILCS 5/ , attached.

7. Municipal Code, continued
Duties to successor: Outgoing officers must deliver municipal records, property and possessions to their successors within 5 days after receiving written notice and request per 65 ILCS 5/ , attached.
Compensation: Salaries for incoming elected officials must be established at least 180 days before the beginning of the terms of office for the officers whose compensation is to be fixed. 65 ILCS , attached.
Vacancies: Vacancies in elective office are governed by 65 ILCS and (for populations in excess of 500,000), attached.

8. Important dates related to the 2015 elections*
*Be sure to confirm these dates with the dates that will be published by the
Illinois State Board of Elections
Consolidated Primary Election: February 24, 2015
First day to circulate petitions: August 26, 2014
Filing period: November 17 – November 25, 2014
Consolidated Election: April 7, 2015
First day to circulate petitions: September 23, 2014
Filing period: December 15 – December 23, 2014
Deadlines for Submission for Referenda
Please see the attached materials from Chapman and Cutler, LLP,
reprinted with their permission. We thank Tim McGree for the creation
of these documents and for the permission to share them.

9. Common areas of confusion
Non-Partisan v. Independent Candidates
Independent: Individuals who are not candidates of any political party, but who are candidates in an election at which partisan candidates may appear on the ballot.
Non-Partisan: Individuals who are running in certain units of government in which the statutes require that the candidate run on a non-partisan basis. For municipalities, this applies to candidates for commission and council-manager (councilmen-at-large) forms of government, or villages who have adopted a system of non-partisan primary and general elections under through of the Illinois Municipal Code.
Political Parties v. Political Action Committees. See 10 ILCS 5/10-2.

10. ADDITIONAL AREAS OF CONFUSION
Local Election Official v. Local Election Authority
The local election official is the municipal clerk. 10 ILCS 5/1-3(10). The local election authority is the county clerk, or county or city board of election commissioners, if one exists. 10 ILCS 5/1-3(8).
Board of Election Commissioners v. Electoral Board
A board of election commissioners is not the same as an electoral board. An electoral board is quasi-adjudicative body, which comes into existence upon the filing of an objection. A board of election commissioners can sit as an electoral board.

11. Advising municipal clerks
Period before candidates file petitions
Have your clerk consider giving a pre-filing notice
Sample notice
Confirm that any information your clerk distributes is proper, and issued with a disclaimer
Tell your elected officials not to notarize any candidate’s documentation

12. Advising municipal clerks, continued
Filing Period
Candidates are required to file their nominating petitions in the clerk’s customary office and within customary office hours. If your customary office hours are only part time, it is okay to maintain part time hours, except on the last day of filing.
First day of filing: The election official’s office must open at 8:00 a.m. or the “normal opening hour.”
Last day of filing: The election official’s office must be open until 5:00 p.m. On the last day of filing.

13. Advising municipal clerks, continued
If your municipality does not have an official office, the clerk (or his/her designee) should receive petitions at a location and during times designated in advance by the clerk.
Notice of the time and location of petition filing should be given in a newspaper of general circulation and posted in a conspicuous public location.
Train your clerk to issue receipts for, and keep track of, the documents he/she receives.

14. Advising municipal clerks, continued
Tell your clerk not to play games with FOIA requests for election materials
Treat incumbents and non-incumbents alike
Don’t take 5 days to respond
Remind your clerk to distribute Form D-5. The clerk must notify all candidates of the obligation to file statements of organization and of other campaign finance disclosure obligations.
Review the procedures for simultaneous filing lotteries with your clerk.

15. Certify the candidates’ names and any public questions on time.
If a candidate’s petition is challenged, the clerk must note the objection on the certification, but still certify in a timely fashion.
Exercise great caution in refusing to certify a candidate’s name.

16. Advising candidates Qualifications for office
Indebtedness P.A – 65 ILCS 5/
Previously: “A person is not eligible to take the oath of office for a municipal office if that person is in arrears in the payment of a tax or other indebtedness due to the municipality…”
NOW:
(b) A person is not eligible to take the oath of office for a municipal office if that person is, at the time required for taking the oath of office, in arrears in the payment of a tax or other indebtedness due to the municipality…
(b-5) A person is not eligible to hold a municipal office, if that person is, at any time during the term of office, in arrears in the payment of a tax or other indebtedness due to the municipality…

17. Advising candidates Qualifications for office, con’t.
Qualified elector of the municipality and has resided in the municipality at least one year preceding the election
Felons are ineligible to hold municipal office.
Statement of Economic Interests.

18. Electoral Board procedures
See 10 ILCS 5/10-9 for the procedures.
The municipal officers electoral board is comprised of the mayor/president, the clerk and the longest serving trustee/alderman. If two people both qualify as longest-serving, the person who serves is determined by lot.
A person will be disqualified only if they are running for the same office as the person challenged. An absence or inability to attend an electoral board hearing does not form a basis for someone not serving – the remaining two members should serve, constituting a quorum.

19. Electoral Board procedures, continued
If there is a statutory disqualification, the second longest serving trustee or alderman serves. However, if there are further disqualifications, the correct procedure is not to continue to go to additional trustees or alderman. Instead, you must have the presiding judge of the circuit court designate a public member.
Electoral Boards cannot deliberate in private. See 5 ILCS 120/2(b)(4) and (d) regarding quasi-adjudicative bodies under the Open Meetings Act. They must also issue the written decision in an open session of the electoral board.

20. Contact Information
Keri-Lyn J. Krafthefer
Direct Phone:
Fax: