CHICAGO — A federal judge on Thursday issued an order that allows presidential, vice presidential and U.S. Senate candidates for the Green and Libertarian parties on Illinois’ Nov. 3 general election ballot without the normal petition-gathering process, which the judge called a “nearly insurmountable hurdle” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer also ruled that most other independent and third-party candidates for lower offices can collect signatures electronically and will need to get only 10% of the previously required signatures to get on the ballot. The deadline for getting the signatures, which will not have to be notarized, was extended from June 22 to Aug. 7 under Pallmeyer’s order.
“The combined effect of the restrictions on public gatherings imposed by Illinois’ stay-at-home order and the usual in-person signature requirements in the Illinois Election Code is a nearly insurmountable hurdle for new party and independent candidates attempting to have their names placed on the general election ballot,” Pallmeyer wrote.
Pallmeyer’s order was agreed upon by third-party and independent candidate representatives and the state.
She said it “balances the state’s legitimate interests in ‘preventing voter confusion, blocking frivolous candidates from the ballot, and otherwise protecting the integrity of’ the upcoming election … while also accommodating the significant restrictions on new party and independent candidates’ ability to collect signatures in light of the unprecedented limitations on public gatherings required to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
The court order said third parties that appeared on the 2016 and 2018 ballot for specific offices would have automatic access to the Nov. 3 ballot without needing signature petitions.
Normally, Green and Libertarian Party candidates for president and U.S. Senate would need a minimum of 25,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and routinely would gather double to ensure their petitions withstood a challenge.
The Green Party in Illinois had been planning to circulate petitions for Howie Hawkins for president, Diane Moxley for vice president and David Black of Rockford for the U.S. Senate. The state Libertarians had sought petition signatures for Bennett Morris for president, Robert Johnson for vice president and Danny Malouf of Woodstock for U.S. Senate.
Pallmeyer’s ruling gives the Green and Libertarian parties until Aug. 7 to submit their candidates for those three offices on the ballot without the need to collect signatures.
Pallmeyer’s ruling also means that the Green or Libertarian Party can get a candidate on the ballot automatically if the parties fielded candidates for specific congressional offices in 2016 or 2018.
The judge’s ruling also allowed three independent candidates, one seeking legislative office, another a contender for a Downstate congressional seat, and a presidential candidate to appear on the ballot without having to file signatures.
Sam Cahnman, a Springfield attorney representing independent presidential candidate Kyle Kopitke, who will now be on the Illinois ballot, said the judge’s order was a “victory” for democracy.
“Voters are supposed to have the final say on who governs them, but they don’t if their choices are restricted to the two major parties, and in many races in Illinois there is only one candidate, so voters have no choice at all.,” he said. “Judge Pallmeyer did an excellent job of balancing the interests, providing independent and third party candidates a doable way to get on the ballot in light of the COVID-19 restrictions.”
Another legal effort, involving former Gov. Patrick Quinn and aimed at challenging laws regarding signatures to place referendum issues on the ballot because of the virus, is still being considered by Pallmeyer with a ruling expected late next month.
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