News Release: Illinois Greens Blast Bait and Switch on Ballot Access Bills: Call for Senate Bill 733 to be Brought to House Floor

Illinois Greens who were heartened by the Illinois Senate's recent passage of SB 733 are calling for the House to take up this legislation instead of shelving it in favor of an inferior piece of legislation in HB 632.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Monday, May 7, 2007

Contact: Phil Huckelberry, 309-268-9974, phil.huckelberry@gmail.com

Illinois Greens who were heartened by the Illinois Senate's recent passage of SB 733 are calling for the House to take up this legislation instead of shelving it in favor of an inferior piece of legislation in HB 632.

"Illinois is finally on the verge of stepping out of the dark ages of ballot access rights," said Phil Huckelberry, Chair of the Illinois Green Party's Government and Elections Committee. "Now it looks like Mike Madigan is trying to keep us there after all."

SB 733 would lower ballot access hurdles for "new" party and independent candidates in Illinois to the same level as that for whichever "established" party has the highest threshold in a given jurisdiction. The Senate passed SB 733 unanimously on March 30, but on April 30 the bill was assigned to the House Executive Committee, a sign that House leadership intends to shelve it.

Under SB 733, the statewide petition number would drop from 25,000 to 5,000. In 2006, a "new" party needed to collect 14,476 signatures to put a congressional candidate on the ballot in the tenth most-difficult district; under the provisions of SB 733, the tenth-most difficult district would have required only 943 signatures. Only Georgia makes it more difficult for non-established parties to field candidates for Congress, legislative, and county office.

HB 632 would only impact signature requirements for independent candidates for state legislature. The existing requirements were found unconstitutional in Lee v Keith, forcing the legislature to rewrite at least part of the law. HB 632 originally had similar provisions to SB 733, but was amended within the House to take away the best components. HB 632 subsequently passed the House unanimously on May 2 and is now before the Senate.

Greens in Illinois collected over 39,300 signatures in 2006 to place several candidates on the statewide ballot, including Rich Whitney for Governor. Democratic operatives, led by Mike Kasper, Madigan's chief counsel, responded by filing frivolous challenges against the petitions. The State Board of Elections eventually ruled against the charges, but not before an estimated $800,000 in taxpayer dollar was wasted during the challenge process.

"This is classic legislative bait and switch," said Dan Rodriguez Schlorff, Green candidate for State Treasurer in 2006. "The Illinois Senate comes off smelling like roses for voting for sane legislation, and the kingmakers still get to maintain the system that keeps them in power."