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Illinois

Getting on a ballot in DuPage County could get a bit tougher if a plan proposed by state Rep. Bob Biggins, an Elmhurst Republican, becomes law.

The proposal would require candidates for county office to collect either 300 petition signatures or an amount equal to one-half of one percent of those who voted for their party in the last election, whichever is greater.

Members of the DuPage County government were concerned the current requirements to get on the ballot were too low given the county’s growing population. For instance, a Republican candidate for DuPage County Board District 1 in 2006 needed only 73 signatures to get on the ballot.

The question: Is this a prudent proposal? Also, should potential candidates have to show at least some ability to garner support before they appear on a ballot? Why or why not?

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 18, 07 @ 9:53 am

Comments

Change the requirement to number of donors giving more than a token amount (like $10) by a certain date.

Comment by RBD Friday, May 18, 07 @ 10:07 am
I am awlays concerned that the procedure for getting on the bvallot is too archane and difficult and has the effect of limiting good canidates. My underlying theory, more choice may be better in the long run. Absent an indication that the ballot is being flooded with canidates and making selection by voters confusing or difficult, I say leave it alone.

Comment by Ghost Friday, May 18, 07 @ 10:48 am
For local offices keeping signature requirements to around 200-500 signatures is reasonable.

It’s not an insurmountable number given the timeframe allowed (a few months if you start right away). But it’s a sizable enough amount that a candidate has to get out and talk to voters.

Right now most school boards have ridiculously low signature minimums — 50 in most cases. Even with gathering the requisite number of “just in case” signatures, 200-500 isn’t too difficult (if the population base is of sufficient size).

Comment by Rob_N Friday, May 18, 07 @ 11:17 am
Rich take a look at the crazy rules to get on a ballot in chicago. Alderman there use them to keep good challengers off the ballot and limit choice. But 300 signatures does not seem to be unreasonable.

Comment by fed up Friday, May 18, 07 @ 12:27 pm
Wonder if this is a BrickheadJoe idea?
Guess we will need to wait for the feds to finish up out there to learn the answer

Comment by Reddbyrd Friday, May 18, 07 @ 1:23 pm
Good for Biggins…. why should Democrats have an easy road getting on the ballot in Du Page County, while the ballot signature requirements in Chicago and Cook County render it almost impossible for Republicans to get candidates on the ballot for many offices. Some offices there require thousands of signatures. In the last city committeeman election, Republican Committeeman had to get in some cases one third of all Republican voters in the ward to get on the ballot.

I am all for ballot access, but then Chicago and Cook would have to relax their stringent requirements to even the playing field.

Comment by Conservative Republican Friday, May 18, 07 @ 6:30 pm