Candidate filing begins Monday, signaling official start of 2024 election cycle
By DILPREET RAJU
Capitol News Illinois
draju@capitolnewsillinois.com
Monday morning marks the official beginning of the 2024 election cycle in Illinois, opening up the week-long period when candidates for local, state, congressional and judicial races are required to turn in the signatures they’ve spent the last two months collecting to get on the ballot.
The first day of petition filing has traditionally taken on a party atmosphere, as candidates and staff line up outside the Illinois State Board of Elections office in Springfield, where the line often reaches past the Chuck E. Cheese storefront, roughly 100 yards down from the board’s entrance in the capital city strip mall.
Those who get in line before 8 a.m. are entered into a lottery drawing to be placed atop the ballot for their respective position. The lottery drawing is scheduled for Dec. 13.
Though many candidates line up before filing opens, elections board spokesperson Matt Dietrich said he hasn’t seen any studies that prove being first on a primary ballot actually provides any advantage.
“Primary voters tend to be the most informed voters,” he said. “So these are the voters are most likely to know which candidates are on their primary ballot and they’re the voters who are most likely to have already made up their minds before they go into the polling place.”
Still, “political candidates, if they sense that there may be any type of advantage to something, they’ll go out of their way,” Dietrich said.
Some candidates also try for another myth of advantage by waiting until the last hour of the last day of the filing period, Dec. 4 from 4 to 5 p.m. This pool of candidates is entered into a lottery to be at the bottom of the list in their respective races.
Candidates can file petitions to be on the ballot from Nov. 27 through Dec. 4 at the elections office for any of the 17 U.S. House of Representatives seats, 141 Illinois General Assembly seats or 77 judicial vacancies.
After filing, the board opens a period for challenges to candidate petitions. Typically, opponents or party operatives will attempt to knock a newcomer off the ballot for signatures that may not have been collected properly, or in some cases are proven to be fraudulent.
The board will certify the primary ballot at its January meeting and the primary election is scheduled for March 19.
This filing day signals a return to normal from the last state election cycle, which was slowed by delays in 2020 U.S. Census data that caused a chain reaction — slowing the process of redistricting in 2021 and changing Illinois’ typical mid-March primary to a June primary last year. Instead of the usual November candidate filing in 2021, the Board of Elections pushed it to March 2022.
Dietrich said it was necessary as candidates needed the new maps — which had been challenged in court — finalized before they could start passing petitions for the new districts they sought to run in.
Election security
Even before petitions are filed, election authorities in Illinois are trying to get ahead of both conspiracy theories and genuine questions about election security and integrity that have continue to circulate and evolve on social media during the past several election cycles.
In late September a number of downstate county clerks hosted a series of coordinated news conferences to send the message that if constituents are concerned about election integrity, they should visit their local county clerk’s office to learn how the process is actually handled from start to finish.
In a Capitol Cast interview this fall, Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman said that since 2016, county clerks throughout the state of Illinois have seen “unprecedented attention focused on elections.”
“A lot of misinformation [is] being placed out there,” Ackerman said. “Two presidential cycles in a row. Before we got to the third one, if you just keep doing the same thing, you’ll get the same result.”
Ackerman said he tries to tell people, “you know who we are, we’re in the community, our kids go to the same schools, we shop at the same supermarkets.”
On the podcast in September, Dietrich emphasized that the work of running elections is largely decentralized; the Board of Elections only provides administrative support to Illinois’ 108 local election authorities.
”They do all of the voter registration, they do all of the voter list maintenance on a daily basis, they recruit the election judges, they rent out the polling places,” he said.
One increased security measure requires that no one except Board of Elections employees and candidates filing their signatures will be allowed in the petition filing room next week.
The 2024 Illinois general primary election is March 19. Registered voters can begin requesting mail-in ballots Dec. 20, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections calendar.
Hannah Meisel contributed.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
Local News
Rush rips USDA over plight of black farmers
Spread the love‘House is on fire,’ congressman says From staff reports U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-1st) recently questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about what Rush called “the dire prognosis of black farmers in the U.S. and the steps USDA is taking to help minority farmers.” “As you well know, our nation’s…
Charge man with Archer Heights carjacking
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac Police say they’ve solved a carjacking that occurred in Archer Heights earlier this month. An 18-year-old Southeast Side man was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking in connection with the crime. Monte Handley, of the 9000 block of South Muskegon, was apprehended by police in the 7500 block of South Ellis…
Charge man in shooting of 2
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac A 22-year-old West Lawn man was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, as well as aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, after he was arrested in the 3700 block of West Marquette Road at 4:06 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17. Isaiah Barco allegedly shot two men in a crime that…
Many crimes down in Orland, but weapons arrests concerning
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Orland Park Police Chief Joseph Mitchell had mostly good news when revealing the village’s 2021 crime statistics. But one glaring area that has him bothered is the number of unlawful use of a weapon arrests that have been shooting up. Mitchell and Mayor Keith Pekau attribute it to felons from…
Former GOP allies to battle for county board race
Spread the loveGorman wants to reclaim seat from Morrison By Bob Bong A battle royale is brewing in the race for the Republican nomination for Cook County Board’s 17th District. The 17th District is one of only two county board seats held by Republicans and it has only ever had a Republican commissioner dating back…
Palos Park inches closer to gaming solution
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Signs are pointing to the fact there probably will be limited video gaming in Palos Park. Mayor John Mahoney and the village council rejiggered a few things with an ordinance and some of the village codes and the end result is that Monday they asked village attorneys to look into…
Police reports
Spread the loveShot in the head, killed on Archer A 33-year-old man was shot in the head and killed as he drove a vehicle in the 4200 block of South Archer at 5:13 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:47 a.m. Police said…
Tabares backs West Lawn Branch Library
Spread the love Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares (left) recently toured the renovated West Lawn Branch Library, 4020 W. 63rd St.,, with new branch manager Mina Duarte. Details about the renovation’s may be found in the West Lawn column in the January 28 Greater Southwest News-Herald. –Supplied photo
Neighbors
Boys Volleyball | Sandburg seeks 26th regional title
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Coming off the worst season in program history in 2023, Sandburg was not going to settle for anything less than better results this year. Past the midway point of this season, however, the Eagles had a record of 11-8. But they closed the regular season strong, winning 11 of…
Baseball | Red-hot Reavis looks to make noise in postseason
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Reavis is determined to send their head coach Don Erickson into retirement on a high note and will head into the postseason red hot and as South Suburban Red champions. The Rams defeated Oak Lawn 3-0 for the second straight day on May 15 to clinch the conference title.…
Sports Bits | Rice boats at Carlyle Lake, Hawkeye DB and Do It Stevie’s Way
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Noteworthy sports briefs from May 12-19 • Brother Rice’s No. 1 boat of Joe Hall and Joe Judeh took 31st in the state bass fishing tournament, which wrapped up on May 18 at Carlyle Lake. The Crusaders had a two-day haul of 7 pounds, 12 ounces. The Crusaders’ No.…
Nothing NU at SeatGeek
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent There was speculation that because of the renovations being done at Ryan Field, Northwestern would schedule a few football games at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview this fall. The Wildcats announced their schedule and no home games are listed at SeatGeek, but the situation is still fluid. They are opting…
College Softball | Close losses at nationals end Saint Xavier’s season
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Saint Xavier softball team played three nailbiters in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament. But the end result was a 1-2 record to eliminate the Cougars from advancing. SXU (28-14) opened the tournament by nipping Bellevue (Nebraska), 5-4, in Sioux City, Iowa on May 13. Alexus Reese…
Red Stars’ Naeher misses loss to Gotham
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The world’s best kept secret is still a mystery. The Chicago Red Stars are not releasing information to the public about the severity of a thigh injury or the status of world-class goalie Alyssa Naeher. What is known is that she did not play in a 2-1 loss to…
Summer calendar filling up quickly
Spread the love. By Patti Tyznik Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • ptyznik@gmail.com . Summer is rapidly approaching, and the neighborhood is geared up for lots of great summer fun and activities. The Midway Chamber of Commerce’s farmer’s market will be opening on Wednesdays at the end of May through September…
Shepard’s Kyla Motley cruises to two medals at girls state track finals
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Shepard junior Kyla Motley medaled in two events in the Class 3A girls state track and field meet, the finals for which were held May 18 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Motley finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 4 inches. She finished…
Boys Tennis | Lyons’ Jack McLane and Mason Mazzone win sectional doubles title
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The area produced a handful of boys tennis state qualifiers, but only one entry is headed to state as a sectional champion. At the Class 2A Lyons Sectional, the Lions’ Jack McLane and Mason Mazzone were doubles champs. The state meet opens May 23 at various sites in the…
Water Polo | Lyons boys win third state title; girls finish 3rd
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The best matchup of the IHSA boys water polo state tournament was arguably in the quarterfinals. That battle between Lyons and New Trier could have been considered the real state championship match. But no matter what, the Lions are state champions. Heading into the postseason, Lyons had just three…