SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A judge on Wednesday struck down a law that Illinois Democrats passed last month that would ban this prevent political parties from fielding candidates when no one attended the party primaries.
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Gail Noll ruled that the law, designed to protect vulnerable Democrats in the November general election, is unconstitutional. It improperly interferes with a person’s right to access the ballot, and that, Noll wrote, “places a severe limitation on the fundamental right to vote.”
“Plaintiffs have a clearly ascertainable right to be free from unconstitutional restrictions on their right to vote, which under the circumstances of this case includes their right to access ballots,” Noll’s opinion said.
Previously, someone who did not participate in the primary ballot – this year, March 19 – could still run for office in November after receiving approval from party leaders and collecting the required number of valid petition signatures before the June 3 deadline set by the Illinois State Board. of elections.
Several of those Republican candidates have filed the lawsuit. The Board of Elections has continued to accept petitions for appointments.
Democrats who approved the change in early May said a candidate for public office should face voters and not be hand-picked after finding out what the competition will be after the primaries. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker called it an ethics law.
But Republicans rejected the idea, especially because it came in the middle of an election cycle. Senate Minority Leader John Curran, a Republican from the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, called on Pritzker to suspend legal action in the case and allow Republicans to continue under the old law.
“Government. Pritzker’s deceptive framing of this legislation as ethics reform defied logic at the time and attempted to obscure his willingness to attack the constitutional rights of Illinoisans at all costs in Democrats’ quest for power,” Curran said in a statement.
In the ruling, Noll noted that Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who defended the General Assembly and Pritzker, said the government’s interest is to “prevent political insiders from having control over which candidates are on the ballot,” which would prevent voters who can make choices.
The judge ruled that there are less restrictive ways to achieve that goal, a requirement from previous case law.
An email message seeking comment was left with Raoul’s spokesperson.