Important to Double-Check Objector Petition Filing Deadine
The 2015 Election and Campaign Finance
Calendar published by the State Board of Elections says that its deadline
for the filing of objections to candidate nomination papers for the upcoming April 7,
2015, election is December 30, 2014. However, that date may not apply to all municipalities, depending on their year-end holiday schedule. In fact, the objection-filing deadline in some
municipalities may be as late as January 6, 2015. It is, therefore, important for
municipalities to calculate their objection-filing period for the April election based
on the holiday schedule of their own city or village.
The Election Code states that
objections to candidate nomination papers may be filed within five “business
days” following the last day of the candidate petition-filing period. 10 ILCS
5/10-8. For the April 2015 election, the candidate petition-filing period ends
on December 22, 2014, in all jurisdictions. However, different municipalities
have different holiday schedules, and that may affect the way the “business
days” are counted for the five-day objection-filing period.
For purposes of calculating
election-related dates and deadlines, the Election Code defines the term
“business day” as “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.” 10 ILCS 5/1-3(22). So, for example, if a municipal office will be
closing early on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) or New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31), in
addition to being closed all day for Christmas and New Year’s Day, the objection-filing deadline will be different than the State Board’s schedule.
Below is a table showing the most common
objection-filing deadlines for the April 2015 election. “Open” means
open for at least 7 hours, and “Closed” means closed all day, or open
for less than 7 hours (including “half days”):
Dec. 23
|
Dec. 24
|
Dec. 25
|
Dec. 26
|
Dec. 29
|
Dec. 30
|
Dec. 31
|
Jan.
1
|
Jan.
2
|
Objection-filing
DEADLINE
|
Open
|
Open
|
Closed
|
Open
|
Open
|
Open
|
Dec. 30
|
|||
Open
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Open
|
Open
|
Open
|
Open
|
Dec. 31
|
||
Open
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Open
|
Open
|
Open
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Open
|
Jan. 2
|
Open
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Open
|
Open
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Closed
|
Jan. 6
|
Because the dates can vary significantly from municipality to municipality, you should check with your local attorney to confirm the objection filing deadline in your community.
Post Authored by Adam Lasker, Ancel Glink
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