Organization sues state over ballot obstacles

SPRINGFIELD - An Illinois organization aiming to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot is suing the state, alleging that restrictions implemented to combat the novel coronavirus "forced" voters to weigh their health against their First Amendment rights.

The Committee for the Illinois Democracy Amendment is advocating for an amendment that would obligate the General Assembly to take roll call votes on bills proposing "stronger ethical standards for Illinois public officials."

To successfully secure a spot on the ballot, proponents must gather 363,813 handwritten signatures - or 8 percent of votes cast for governor in the last election - and deliver the papers to the secretary of state's office six months before the Nov. 3 general election. That deadline passed May 3.

The committee, in a court document, argued that threshold was impossible to meet given the issuance of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's disaster proclamation and stay-at-home order less than two months before the cutoff.

It is asking U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer to reduce the signature requirement by 50 percent, enable voters to sign petitions electronically and allow those documents to be submitted electronically as well. The committee also wants the May 3 deadline extended to Aug. 3, giving proponents the 55 days they allege they lost.

These requests are similar to ones Pallmeyer granted the Libertarian and Green Parties when they sued the state alleging third party candidates could not realistically meet the requirements to qualify for the November ballot.

In a court document, the committee alleges the mandates for collecting support for a constitutional amendment is "identical to and indistinguishable from the traditional procedure for collecting petition signatures for candidates."

On April 17, Pallmeyer denied their requests. Less than two weeks later, the committee asked her to reconsider, given the time restraints for getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Pallmeyer was scheduled to rule on the reconsideration Thursday.

Attorneys for the Illinois State Board of Elections and secretary of state's office said in a document at least two of the committee's requests - extending the deadline and reducing the signatures needed - would "contravene" requirements included in the state constitution.

That "would pose near insurmountable difficulties" for the state, they argued.

The committee's requests "would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the State Board of Elections and Secretary of State to fulfill their legal obligations related to a proposed constitutional amendment," according to their filing. "In addition ... the (requests) could potentially throw Illinois' electoral system into disarray during an already tumultuous time."

That argument shows "the state imagines a parade of horribles and burdens" that do not exist, the committee's attorneys responded.

Negotiations fall flat

Pallmeyer asked both sides to negotiate a solution. According to a court transcript, there have been "a number" of conversations and conferences, but no solution was reached.

John Mauck, one of the committee's representatives, said the state offered a two-week deadline extension as long as a hard copy of the hand-signed petitions were submitted, according to a transcript.

But the committee wants to turn in electronic petitions with electronic signatures. That would be "a simple and fair solution, and workable solution," Mauck said in the transcript.

In a court document urging Pallmeyer to hold a hearing to reconsider her decision, the committee argued the secretary of state's offices were shuttered to comply with the governor's efforts to combat COVID-19.

"Incredibly, the State informed (the committee) that it would have someone present at the office of the Secretary of State to receive the petitions on Sunday, May 3, 2020," according to the filing. "All (the committee) had to do was carry thousands of paper pages to the office and hope to not get arrested for violating stay-at-home and social distancing orders."

Erin Walsh, the Board of Elections' attorney, also took issue with the committee asking "various state agencies to completely rework their system for ballot access" at "the last minute."

There is no proof the committee tried complying with the state's established process before March, she added. According to documents filed with the board, the committee was founded on April 1.

But proponents began gathering signatures "in the past several weeks," former Gov. Pat Quinn, another of the committee's representatives, responded, according to a transcript.

Their efforts "essentially began" after members of the General Assembly who are on the state's Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform "announced they were not going to make any recommendations" by their self-imposed due date at the end of March.

When asked by Pallmeyer how much progress canvassers made, Quinn said "it's impossible to know exactly how many signatures you have until they're collected," according to a transcript.

The committee proposed that the State Board of Elections and secretary of state's office retool the online voter registration system to allow residents to electronically support a constitutional amendment initiative.

That system, passed into law in 2013 when Quinn was governor, could be "easily modified" to do so, he said.

Walsh said that suggestion is tantamount to the committee "trying to foist this untested program on the state of Illinois at the last minute," according to a transcript.

And, according to that document, Pallmeyer said "whatever my views might be on the propriety of this electronic concept," she does not have the legal authority to "order a different mechanism for the voting process in Illinois."