CHICAGO – The Free & Equal Elections Foundation is inviting all area media outlets to a press conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Springfield Capitol Press Room. Free & Equal Founder and CEO Christina Tobin will talk about efforts within the Illinois political establishment to silence the voice of the people.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and minority leader Tom Cross have used the state’s open challenge process and public funds to knock legitimate candidates for public office off the state’s election ballots, thereby limiting the choices for voters. These shameful political tactics were highlighted in an investigation by FOX Chicago News, and by Tobin in a recent FOX Chicago Sunday interview.
Now the Democrats in the state legislature want to further restrict the voice of the people. On a 5-4 party-line vote, Democrats passed House Bill 6000 out of the House Elections and Campaign Reform Committee on Feb. 23. The bill would raise the petition signature requirement in Chicago alderman races from 2 percent of the votes cast in a given ward in the previous election to a flat 500 signatures. This would mean an increase in signatures in every ward for ballot access, including an over 400-percent increase in some wards.
“The law would be particularly onerous as it applies to wards in minority neighborhoods, especially Latino wards,” said Green Party candidate for Cook County Board President Tom Tresser. “In the two lowest voter-turnout wards of the city, the twelfth and twenty-second on the near Southwest Side, signature requirements would more than quadruple.”
This is not reform in the best interests of the people but in the interests of politics and consolidation of power. That is why Free & Equal Election Law Attorney Andrew Spiegel is drafting a legislative proposal that would replace all signature requirements with modest filing fees for all candidates, regardless of political affiliation.
“Replacing the unfair challenge system with uniform filing fees is the only way to institute free and equal elections in Illinois, while saving the taxpayers a lot of money at the same time,” Tobin said. “The best way to do this and increase voter participation is to give voters a greater choice on Election Day. Expanding ballot access will accomplish both of these goals.”
Tobin will be available for questions after their initial remarks.
