* Background is here and here if you need it. First District Appellate Court, with Justice Mikva delivering the opinion…

This appeal requires us to interpret subsection (h) of section 7-10 of the Election Code (10 ILCS 5/7-10(h) (West 2020)). That subsection sets the minimum number of signatures petitioners, Susan F. Hutchinson, Mark Curran, and Nancy Rodkin Rotering (candidates), were required to submit to appear on the ballots for their respective parties in the upcoming June 28, 2022, General Primary Election. Candidates are seeking their respective parties’ nomination for the Second Judicial District’s seat on the Illinois Supreme Court. Respondents, Alan Spellberg, Cacilia Masover, and Nancy Waites (objectors), objected to the candidates’ nomination papers on the basis that they contained too few signatures. A hearing officer recommended that the candidates’ names appear on the primary ballots. The Illinois State Board of Elections (Board) rejected the hearing officer’s recommendation, found that the candidates had not submitted enough signatures, and ordered their names not to appear on the ballots. On judicial review, the circuit court of Cook County reversed the Board’s decision. Objectors have filed an appeal to this court. For the following reasons, we agree with the circuit court that the Board’s decision rests on an incorrect interpretation of section 7-10(h). We find that the candidates have submitted sufficient signatures and that their names should appear on the primary ballots. We therefore reverse the decision of the Board and affirm the circuit court. […]

The candidates each submitted enough signatures to appear on the ballots seeking their respective parties’ nomination for a seat on our supreme court. The circuit court’s judgment reversing the Board’s decision and ordering the candidates’ names to appear on the ballots is affirmed.

Circuit court judgment affirmed.
Board decision reversed.