By Rebecca Anzel
Illinois ballot eligibility requirements will be loosened for third-party candidates affected this election cycle by State efforts to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In a lawsuit filed April 2, the State’s Libertarian and Green parties said social distancing and stay-at-home orders instituted by governor JB Pritzker made gathering enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot “practically impossible” for the November 3 election.
Both are considered new political parties under State election rules, meaning their candidates must obtain a greater number of in-person signatures than those with established parties, typically, Democrats and Republicans.
In a remote hearing Tuesday, Federal Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer outlined general terms to ease those requirements this election cycle for all new party and independent candidates and asked both sides’ representatives to formulate the details.
She described pushing the deadline for candidates to submit petition signatures to the State Board of Elections to a date in the first week of August and reduced the number of mandated signatures by 85% to 90%, according to attorneys present for the hearing.
Independents or those in a new party needed at least 25,000 signatures to run for president or a seat in the U.S. Senate. Under Pallmeyer’s terms, the minimum required signatures could range from 2,500 to 3,750.
— Capital News Illinois