Article 1

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10 ILCS 5/1-1 — This Act May Be Cited As The Election Code

This Act may be cited as the Election Code. This Act is the general election law of Illinois and any reference in any other Act to "the general election law" or "the general election law of this State" is a reference to this Act, as now or hereafter amended.

10 ILCS 5/1-2 — Continuation of Prior Provisions

The provisions of this Act, so far as they are the same as those of any prior statute, shall be construed as a continuation of such prior provisions, and not as a new enactment.

If in any other statute reference is made to an Act of the General Assembly, or a Section of such an Act, which is continued in this Code, such reference shall be held to refer to the Act or Section thereof so continued in this Code.

10 ILCS 5/1-3 — Definitions

As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Election"

includes the submission of all questions of public policy, propositions, and all measures submitted to popular vote, and includes primary elections when so indicated by the context.

2. "Regular election"

means the general, general primary, consolidated and consolidated primary elections regularly scheduled in Article 2A. The even numbered year municipal primary established in Article 2A is a regular election only with respect to those municipalities in which a primary is required to be held on such date.

3. "Special election"

means an election not regularly recurring at fixed intervals, irrespective of whether it is held at the same time and place and by the same election officers as a regular election.

4. "General election"

means the biennial election at which members of the General Assembly are elected. "General primary election", "consolidated election" and "consolidated primary election" mean the respective elections or the election dates designated and established in Article 2A of this Code.

5. "Municipal election"

means an election or primary, either regular or special, in cities, villages, and incorporated towns; and "municipality" means any such city, village or incorporated town.

6. "Political or governmental subdivision"

means any unit of local government, or school district in which elections are or may be held. "Political or governmental subdivision" also includes, for election purposes, Regional Boards of School Trustees, and Township Boards of School Trustees.

7. The word "township" and the word "town"

shall apply interchangeably to the type of governmental organization established in accordance with the provisions of the Township Code. The term "incorporated town" shall mean a municipality referred to as an incorporated town in the Illinois Municipal Code, as now or hereafter amended.

8. "Election authority"

means a county clerk or a Board of Election Commissioners.

9. "Election Jurisdiction"

means

• (a) an entire county, in the case of a county in which no city board of election commissioners is located or which is under the jurisdiction of a county board of election commissioners;
• (b) the territorial jurisdiction of a city board of election commissioners; and
• (c) the territory in a county outside of the jurisdiction of a city board of election commissioners.

In each instance election jurisdiction shall be determined according to which election authority maintains the permanent registration records of qualified electors.

10. "Local election official"

means the clerk or secretary of a unit of local government or school district, as the case may be, the treasurer of a township board of school trustees, and the regional superintendent of schools with respect to the various school officer elections and school referenda for which the regional superintendent is assigned election duties by The School Code, as now or hereafter amended.

11. "Judges of election"

, "primary judges" and similar terms, as applied to cases where there are 2 sets of judges, when used in connection with duties at an election during the hours the polls are open, refer to the team of judges of election on duty during such hours; and, when used with reference to duties after the closing of the polls, refer to the team of tally judges designated to count the vote after the closing of the polls and the holdover judges designated pursuant to Section 13-6.2. this link opens in a new browser tab. or 14-5.2. this link opens in a new browser tab.. In such case, where, after the closing of the polls, any act is required to be performed by each of the judges of election, it shall be performed by each of the tally judges and by each of the holdover judges.

12. "Petition"

of candidacy as used in Sections 7-10 and 7-10.1 shall consist of a statement of candidacy, candidate's statement containing oath, and sheets containing signatures of qualified primary electors bound together.

13. "Election district" and "precinct"

, when used with reference to a 30-day residence requirement, means the smallest constituent territory in which electors vote as a unit at the same polling place in any election governed by this Act.

14. "District"

means any area which votes as a unit for the election of any officer, other than the State or a unit of local government or school district, and includes, but is not limited to, legislative, congressional and judicial districts, judicial circuits, county board districts, municipal and sanitary district wards, school board districts, and precincts.

15. "Question of public policy" or "public question"

means any question, proposition or measure submitted to the voters at an election dealing with subject matter other than the nomination or election of candidates and shall include, but is not limited to, any bond or tax referendum, and questions relating to the Constitution.

16."Ordinance providing the form of government of a municipality or county pursuant to Article VII of the Constitution"

includes ordinances, resolutions and petitions adopted by referendum which provide for the form of government, the officers or the manner of selection or terms of office of officers of such municipality or county, pursuant to the provisions of Sections 4, 6, or 7 of Article VII of the Constitution.

17. "List"

as used in Sections 4-11, 4-22. this link opens in a new browser tab., 5-14, 5-29. this link opens in a new browser tab., 6-60. this link opens in a new browser tab., and 6-66. this link opens in a new browser tab. shall include a computer tape or computer disc or other electronic data processing information containing voter information.

18. "Accessible"

means accessible to persons with disabilities and elderly individuals for the purpose of voting or registration, as determined by rule of the State Board of Elections.

19. "Elderly"

means 65 years of age or older.

20. "Person with a disability"

means a person having a temporary or permanent physical disability.

21. "Leading political party"

means one of the two political parties whose candidates for governor at the most recent three gubernatorial elections received either the highest or second highest average number of votes. The political party whose candidates for governor received the highest average number of votes shall be known as the first leading political party and the political party whose candidates for governor received the second highest average number of votes shall be known as the second leading political party.

22."Business day"

means any day in which the office of an election authority, local election official or the State Board of Elections is open to the public for a minimum of 7 hours.

23. "Homeless individual"

means any person who has a nontraditional residence, including, but not limited to, a shelter, day shelter, park bench, street corner, or space under a bridge.

24."Signature"

means a name signed in ink or in digitized form. This definition does not apply to a nominating or candidate petition or a referendum petition.

25. "Intelligent mail barcode tracking system"

means a printed trackable barcode attached to the return business reply envelope for mail-in ballots under Article 19. this link opens in a new browser tab. or Article 20. this link opens in a new browser tab. that allows an election authority to determine the date the envelope was mailed in absence of a postmark.

10 ILCS 5/1-3.5 — Absentee Voting

Any references to absentee ballots, absentee voters, absentee registration, or absentee voting procedures in this Code shall be construed to refer to vote by mail ballots, persons who vote by mail, registration by mail, or voting by mail.

10 ILCS 5/1-4 — Business Hours for Petitions

• (a) In any case in which this Act prescribes a period of time within which petitions for nomination must be filed, the office in which petitions must be filed shall remain open for the receipt of such petitions until 5:00 P.M. on the last day of the filing period.
• (b) For the 2013 consolidated election period, an election authority or local election official shall accept until 104 days before the election at which candidates are to be on the ballot any petitions for nomination or certificate of nomination required by this Code to be filed no earlier than 113 and no later than 106 days before the consolidated election.
  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, for purposes of this subsection (b) only, signatures and circulator statements on petitions for nomination filed with an election authority or local election official on the final day for filing petitions for nomination shall not be deemed invalid for the sole reason that the petitions were circulated between 90 and 92 days before the last day for filing petitions.

10 ILCS 5/1-5 — (Repealed)

10 ILCS 5/1-6 — Computing Dates of Various Acts

Computing dates of various acts; Saturday, Sunday, and holidays.

• (a) If the first or last day fixed by law to do any act required or allowed by this Code falls on a State holiday or a Saturday or a Sunday, the period shall extend through the first business day next following the day otherwise fixed as the first or last day, irrespective of whether any election authority or local election official conducts business on the State holiday, Saturday, or Sunday.
• (b) For the purposes of this Section, "State holiday"
  • New Year's Day,
  • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday,
  • Lincoln's Birthday,
  • President's Day
  • Casimir Pulaski's Birthday,
  • Good Friday, Memorial Day,
  • Juneteenth National Freedom Day,
  • Independence Day,
  • Labor Day, Columbus Day,
  • Veterans' Day,
  • Thanksgiving Day,
  • Christmas Day,
  • and any other day from time to time declared by the President of the United States or the Governor of Illinois to be a day during which the agencies of the State of Illinois that are ordinarily open to do business with the public shall be closed for business.
• (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, nominating papers, petitions of objection to nominating papers, certificates of withdrawal of candidacy, and reports of political committees actually received by election authorities and local election officials on a State holiday, a Saturday, or a Sunday shall not be deemed invalid or defective for that reason alone.

10 ILCS 5/1-7 — No Straight Party Voting

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, straight party voting by a single vote is not permitted in Illinois.

10 ILCS 5/1-8 — Canvassing Boards Abolished

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, local canvassing boards are abolished. In this Code or any other law a reference to a local or county canvassing board means

• (i) for elections in which the political subdivision that is choosing candidates or submitting a public question is located entirely within the jurisdiction of a single election authority, that election authority and
• (ii) for elections for offices and public questions not listed in Section 22-1 of this Code in which the political subdivision that is choosing candidates or submitting a public question is located within the jurisdiction of 2 or more election authorities, the election authority having jurisdiction over the location at which the political subdivision has its principal office.

10 ILCS 5/1-9 — Central Counting

Central counting of grace period, early, vote by mail, and provisional ballots. Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary enacted before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, all grace period ballots, early voting ballots, vote by mail ballots, and provisional ballots to be counted shall be delivered to and counted at an election authority's central ballot counting location and not in precincts. References in this Code enacted before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly to delivery and counting of grace period ballots, early voting ballots, vote by mail ballots, or provisional ballots to or at a precinct polling place or to the proper polling place shall be construed as references to delivery and counting of those ballots to and at the election authority's central ballot counting location.

10 ILCS 5/1-9.1 — Ballot Counting Information Dissemination

Each election authority maintaining a website must provide 24-hour notice on its website of the date, time, and location of the analysis, processing, and counting of all ballot forms. Each election authority must notify any political party or pollwatcher of the same information 24 hours before the count begins if such political party or pollwatcher has requested to be notified. Notification may be by electronic mail at the address provided by the requester.

10 ILCS 5/1-9.2 — Uncounted Ballot Information On Website

No later than 48 hours after the closing of polling locations on election day, each election authority maintaining a website shall post the number of ballots that remain uncounted. The posting shall separate the number of ballots yet to be counted into the following categories:

• ballots cast on election day,
• early voting ballots,
• provisional ballots,
• vote by mail ballots received by the election authority but not counted,
• and vote by mail ballots sent by the election authority but have not been returned to the election authority.

This information shall be updated on the website of the election authority each day until the period for counting provisional and vote by mail ballots has ended.

All election authorities, regardless of whether they maintain a website, shall share the same information, separated in the same manner, with the State Board of Elections no later than 48 hours after the closing of polling locations on election day and each business day thereafter until the period for counting provisional and vote by mail ballots has ended.

10 ILCS 5/1-10 — Public Comment

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the State Board of Elections in evaluating the feasibility of any new voting system shall seek and accept public comment from persons with disabilities, including but not limited to organizations of the blind.

10 ILCS 5/1-11 —(Repealed)

10 ILCS 5/1-12 — Public University Voting

• (a) Each appropriate election authority shall, in addition to the early voting conducted at locations otherwise required by law, conduct early voting, grace period registration, and grace period voting at the student union on the campus of a public university within the election authority's jurisdiction.
  The voting required by this subsection (a) to be conducted on campus must be conducted from the 6th day before a general primary or general election until and including the 4th day before a general primary or general election from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. and as otherwise required by Article 19A. this link opens in a new browser tab. of this Code, except that the voting required by this subsection (a) need not be conducted during a consolidated primary or consolidated election.

  Availability of Voting Equipment

  If an election authority has voting equipment that can accommodate a ballot in every form required in the election authority's jurisdiction, then the election authority shall extend early voting and grace period registration and voting under this Section to any registered voter in the election authority's jurisdiction.

  However, if the election authority does not have voting equipment that can accommodate a ballot in every form required in the election authority's jurisdiction, then the election authority may limit early voting and grace period registration and voting under this Section to voters in precincts where the public university is located and precincts bordering the university.
  Each public university shall make the space available at the student union for, and cooperate and coordinate with the appropriate election authority in, the implementation of this subsection (a
• (b) (Blank).
• (c) For the purposes of this Section, "public university" means
  • the University of Illinois,
  • Illinois State University,
  • Chicago State University,
  • Governors State University,
  • Southern Illinois University,
  • Northern Illinois University,
  • Eastern Illinois University,
  • Western Illinois University,
  • and Northeastern Illinois University.
• (d) For the purposes of this Section, "student union" means
  • the Student Center at 750 S. Halsted on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus;
  • the Public Affairs Center at the University of Illinois at Springfield or a new building completed after the effective date of this Act housing student government at the University of Illinois at Springfield;
  • the Illini Union at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
  • the SIUC Student Center at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale campus;
  • the Morris University Center at the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville campus;
  • the University Union at the Western Illinois University at the Macomb campus;
  • the Holmes Student Center at the Northern Illinois University campus;
  • the University Union at the Eastern Illinois University campus;
  • NEIU Student Union at the Northeastern Illinois University campus;
  • the Bone Student Center at the Illinois State University campus;
  • the Cordell Reed Student Union at the Chicago State University campus;
  • and the Hall of Governors in Building D at the Governors State University campus.

10 ILCS 5/1-13 — Forms of Signature

The making and signing of any form, including an application to register, a certificate authorizing cancellation of a registration or authorizing a transfer of registration, an application to vote, a provisional ballot, or affidavit, but not including a nominating or candidate petition or a referendum petition, may be by a signature written in ink or in digitized form.

10 ILCS 5/1-15 — Procedures for the Disposal of Election Records

This Code is subject to the provisions of Section 14a of the Local Records Act.

10 ILCS 5/1-16 — Election Authorities; Notices by Electronic Mail

If an election authority is required by law to send an election-related notice to an individual, that election authority may send that notice solely by electronic mail if the individual provides a current e-mail address to the election authority and authorizes the election authority to send notices by electronic mail. For the purposes of this Section, the term "notice" does not include a ballot or any notice required under Sections 1A-16.5 or 1A-16.7 of this Code.

10 ILCS 5/1-17 — Election Authority Voting Equipment Information.

Every 2 years, each election authority shall submit information on the voting equipment used within the jurisdiction of the election authority to the State Board of Elections. The information must include:

• (1) the age and functionality of each item of voting equipment; and
• (2) a formal letter containing a general description

of the status of the voting equipment, the election authority's perceived need for new voting equipment, and the costs associated with obtaining new equipment.

Each election authority must publish the information submitted under this Section online.

10 ILCS 5/1-18 — Cybersecurity [not included]

10 ILCS 5/1-19 — Access to Voting for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Task Force [not included]

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2025)

10 ILCS 5/1-20 — (Repealed)

10 ILCS 5/1-20.1 — Task Force to Review Eligibility to Hold Public Office.[not included]

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026)

10 ILCS 5/1-21 — Public Financing of Judicial Elections Task Force.[not included]

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2025)

10 ILCS 5/1-22 — The Illinois Elections and Infrastructure Integrity Task Force[not included]

(Section scheduled to be repealed on June 1, 2025)

10 ILCS 5/1-23 — Ranked-Choice and Voting Systems Task Force.[not included]

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2025)

10 ILCS 5/1-24 — 2024 Election Day State holiday.

Notwithstanding any other provision of State law to the contrary, the 2024 general election shall be a State holiday known as 2024 General Election Day and shall be observed throughout this State. The 2024 general election shall be deemed a legal school holiday for purposes of the School Code. Any school closed under this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly and Section 24-2 of the School Code shall be made available to an election authority as a polling place for 2024 General Election Day.

This Section is repealed on January 1, 2025.

10 ILCS 5/1-25 — The Security of Remote Vote by Mail Task Force.[not included]

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2026)