Article 3

Qualification of Voters

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10 ILCS 5/3-1 — Requirements To Vote

Every person

and who is a citizen of the United States, of the age of 18 or more years is entitled to vote at such election for all offices and on all propositions.

Any military establishment within the boundaries of Illinois is "in this State" even though the government of the United States may have exclusive jurisdiction over such establishment.

10 ILCS 5/3-1.2 — Eligibility To Sign Petition

For the purpose of determining eligibility to sign a nominating petition or a petition proposing a public question the terms "voter", "registered voter", "qualified voter", "legal voter", "elector", "qualified elector", "primary elector" and "qualified primary elector" as used in this Code or in another Statute shall mean a person who is registered to vote at the address shown opposite his signature on the petition or was registered to vote at such address when he signed the petition. Any person, otherwise qualified under this Section, who has not moved to another residence but whose address has changed as a result of implementation of a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system shall be considered a "voter", "registered voter", "qualified voter", "legal voter", "elector", "qualified elector", "primary elector", and "qualified primary elector".

10 ILCS 5/3-1.3 — Percentage of Voters

Whenever this Code or another statute requires that a nominating petition or a petition proposing a public question shall be signed by a specified percentage of the registered voters of the State, a political subdivision or district or precinct or combination of precincts, the total number of voters to which the percentage is applied shall be the number of voters who are registered in the State, political subdivision or district or precinct or combination of precincts, as the case may be, on the date registration closed before the regular election next preceding the last day on which such petition may be filed in accordance with the general election law. This Section does not apply to the determination of the number of signatures required on a petition filed pursuant to Article IX of the Liquor Control Act of 1934.

10 ILCS 5/3-2 — Homeless Voters

10 ILCS 5/3-3 — Honorably Discharged Military In Care Facilities

Every honorably discharged soldier or sailor who is an inmate of any soldiers' and sailors' home within the State of Illinois, any person who is a resident of a facility licensed or certified pursuant to the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or the MC/DD Act, or any person who is a resident of a community-integrated living arrangement, as defined in Section 3 of the Community-Integrated Living Arrangements Licensure and Certification Act, for 30 days or longer, and who is a citizen of the United States and has resided in this State and in the election district 30 days next preceding any election shall be entitled to vote in the election district in which any such home or community-integrated living arrangement in which he is an inmate or resident is located, for all officers that now are or hereafter may be elected by the people, and upon all questions that may be submitted to the vote of the people: Provided, that he shall declare upon oath, that it was his bona fide intention at the time he entered said home or community-integrated living arrangement to become a resident thereof.

10 ILCS 5/3-4 — Patients In A Care Facility

No patient who has resided for less than 180 days in any hospital or mental institution in this State shall by virtue of his abode at such hospital or mental institution be deemed a resident or legal voter in the town, city, village or election district or precinct in which such hospital or mental institution may be situated; but every such person shall be deemed a resident of the town, city, village or election district or precinct in which he resided next prior to becoming a patient of such hospital or mental institution. However, the term "hospital" does not include skilled nursing facilities.

10 ILCS 5/3-5 — Legally Convicted & Confined Persons

No person who has been legally convicted, in this or another state or in any federal court, of any crime, and is serving a sentence of confinement in any penal institution, or who has been convicted under any Section of this Code and is serving a sentence of confinement in any penal institution, shall vote, offer to vote, attempt to vote or be permitted to vote at any election until his release from confinement.

Confinement for purposes of this Section shall include any person convicted and imprisoned but granted a furlough as provided by Section 3-11-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections, or admitted to a work release program as provided by Section 3-13-2 of the Unified Code of Corrections. Confinement shall not include any person convicted and imprisoned but released on parole.

Confinement or detention in a jail pending acquittal or conviction of a crime is not a disqualification for voting.

10 ILCS 5/3-6 — Voting Age

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who is 17 years old on the date of a caucus, general primary election, or consolidated primary election and who is otherwise qualified to vote is qualified to vote at that caucus, general primary, or consolidated primary, including voting a vote by mail, grace period, or early voting ballot with respect to that general primary or consolidated primary, if that person will be 18 years old on the date of the immediately following general election or consolidated election for which candidates are nominated at that primary.

References in this Code and elsewhere to the requirement that a person must be 18 years old to vote shall be interpreted in accordance with this Section.

For the purposes of this Code, an individual who is 17 years of age and who will be 18 years of age on the date of the general or consolidated election shall be deemed competent to execute and attest to any voter registration forms. An individual who is 17 years of age, will be 18 years of age on the date of the immediately following general or consolidated election, and is otherwise qualified to vote shall be deemed eligible to circulate a nominating petition or a petition proposing a public question.

10 ILCS 5/3-7 — Voters In Consolidating and Merging Townships

How To Use This Guide.

This is a guide to the Illinois Compiled Statutes Election Code (ILCS) as it regards to poll watchers. Not all election code statutes are included.

This guide is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to Illinois election law; it includes only those sections which are of interest to poll watchers.

The election code is copied verbatim from the ILCS website. There are no changes to the wording of the statutes, but formatting decisions were made which include:

Each page will include when the page was last updated & a link to the original ILCS website for that statute.

This guide will be maintained through the 2024 election cycle. Maintenance of this guide will end on Election Day, November 5, 2024.

Every effort has been made to keep the information up to date.